For a long time, Christmas has included a trip to Whelan's in Dublin to see Paddy Casey perform, and this year was no different.
I hit town early, got parking and headed into The Crafty Fox for a few bottles of Heineken 0.0 pre show. Sometimes it's nice just to sit in a pub, on your own, and just decompress. It's not like Christmas was stressful, but sometimes, just sometimes, and hour or two to yourself is just fantastic. Anyway, the Crafty Fox, nice bar, nice staff, nice place.
On to the gig. Saoirse Casey opened proceedings with a few songs of her own. I hadn't heard Moon Hotel in quite a while, it's one of my favourites, so I was delighted to hear her play it. It's a beautiful song, you should check it out.
Paddy arrived on stage to massive applause from the full house. That's the thing with these Chrstmas gigs. The folks that are at them are fans, big fans. These aren't just folk at a loose end who pop in for the craic. Arrangements have been made, babysitters found, taxis booked, warnings to kids not to annoy their parents the next morning... You know the drill.
For the couple of hours, Paddy treated them to all the crowd pleasers, and there are loads! Even the new songs went down well! Chad, all the way from the US of A, got a special shout out.. If ever a name gave away your nationality, that was it!
I could ramble on and on here, but look, all you need to know is that it was another magical night in Whelans with Paddy Casey and, if the show is on again next Christmas, you should go.
Right, now for some photos:
