joshritter_ireland

DOUG'S
FIRST DAY
IN IRELAND

Looking north, out my hotel window.

Next Page, The Day of Show#2

Josh Ritter
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My first day in Ireland....Oh, the memories. 'Tis the day that I realized that all the CLICHES about Ireland are true: the people are insanely friendly, the country IS very green, and there IS a pub behind every other door. I told myself that I wouldn't make the typical 'Yankee' mistakes, and I fell short of that goal within 7 minutes of landing: walking out of the airport and into a taxi, the driver tells me that he can tell I'm from out of town by how I "walked to the wrong side of the car." Already sticking out like a sore thumb. But of course, he's the friendliest guy you could meet, and proceeds to give me a background on Dublin, on Ireland, on do's and don'ts, and wishes me the best. I'm so psyched to be in Ireland, I can hardly contain myself....

I checked into the Central Hotel on Exchequer Street - a hotel I chose for the decent price, but primarily for it's "central" location - EVERYTHING is just a few blocks away. Literally. The first picture I took while on Ireland soil is this one (left), looking out my hotel room's window. Just to situate ourselves: It's looking toward the north. Dublin Castle is on the other side of that building on the left. At the end of that block and one block left is the Olympia Theatre, where Josh and the Band will play the next night. About two more blocks north is Temple Bar, the little neighborhood of cool pubs, live music venues, and "happenin'' vibe. The River Liffey is next to it. Trinity College is just a few blocks to the right. Grafton Street - complete with street musicians, shopping, and such - is down the street, too. Having lived in New York City for awhile, I'm accustomed to walking places - but this is ridiculous...everything in Dublin is very, very close.

[Warning to all Irish fans: This is the first real "touristy" page in the Ireland section. You may find the following observations and pictures boooor-ring. This is me at my real "American Tourist" best (worst?), but these first impressions of Ireland were such an important part of my trip. I thought some non-Irish fans would be interested, as well as my family and friends...]

OKAY: let's get Day One's Touristy section over with. For the record, this trip for me was all about getting over to see Josh, Darius, Zack, and Sam perform in the setting far from home: wonderful Ireland. I did NOT have the time and resources to truly see Dublin - and Ireland for that matter - the way it should be. But that's what return trips are for (!). But here are a bunch of pictures I took during my first initial walk around Dublin on my first day...

O'Connell Bridge, over River Liffey into North side of Dublin

The Olympia Theatre, Dublin.

Temple Bar. Americans: You know those great little cobblestone streets with cool pubs in NYC's SoHo? Well, much of Dublin is like that...Sweet.

Temple Bar's Temple Bar?

The Bank of Ireland.

Trinity College campus. Anyone ride bikes to class?

Just a closer look while on campus.

Well, I had to check out where the Olympia Theatre was - not just out of curiosity, but just in case pints of Guinness threw off my sense of direction later. At this point, I'm laughing out loud over the fact that after a month or so of looking at certain locations on a map, it takes me about 90 seconds to walk to the Theatre from the hotel. The exterior of the Olympia doesn't do justice to the cool interior, but I'm already looking like a tourist because of my picture-taking across the street.

So I move on...

First Night:
Whelan's

The "common thread" through this trip of mine is my good fortune. After meeting Flora and Emily at the airport, Whelan's was my next big stroke of luck. Many, many Irish fans told me before I came over that I "must" get to Whelan's while in Ireland, saying that it is the best place to hear live music in Dublin, and going there is a "rite of passage."

Well, I looked at their schedule to see what artists were booked during the month of February. I either didn't know anything about or had enough interest in any of the acts booked there around the time of my visit - except one: "Clem Snide", a cool band out of NYC that I've been digging, but have never seen live. As luck would have it, they were playing Whelan's on the one night I had to explore Dublin on my own, my first night in town! Awesome. So I venture there (of course, a short walk), stopping along the way at The Long Hall to have my first official beer in Ireland...

Pub life in Ireland: Okay, so here's my first exposure to a pub in Ireland. As a naive, less-travelled American, I was briefed before I left on how getting a Guinness was practically a law, "tipping" the bartender isn't really done, etc. Of course, I foul up my "blending in" attempts by ordering a "draft" beer. After a quizzical look from the bartender, I re-request a "pint" - of Heineken. I'm literally intimidated watching the bartender pull a Guinness for someone: filling it 2/3 full, letting it sit for awhile, topping it off...I'm afraid I'll screw up just drinking one. And here's something that I tried not to reveal while in Ireland: I've never been a fan of Guinness, or any "dark" beer for that matter. So I hold off on having one. Of course, everyone is extremely friendly, especially the bartender, and I'm downing my first pint, thinking "Holy shite, I'm in feckin' Ireland."

Beer for coins?: This is totally for my fellow American fans...Having never used the Euro, money was a real kicker. Let's forget about the fact that the exchange rate of the US dollar at the time of my trip was horrrrrible (you should have seen my face at the exchange counter when the woman handed over the "equivalent" money). Not tipping the bartender was strange enough (I now agree with my new Irish friends that it is a little "crazy" to give the bartender an extra dollar for every drink you get over here...), but in the States, we don't use coins. Plain and simple. There's such a thing as a "silver dollar", but they're rare and never used. Well, there are coins worth "1 Euro" and even "2 Euro". Watching people get a beer by handing over 4 euros - two COINS - was amusing (buying a beer with a couple coins porobably hasn't been done in the States since early last century). Seeing people pay for their drinks then WAIT for the bartender to hand over a few cents change was even more amusing. Only an unsophisticated American like myself would get a kick out of this. But not being familiar enough with the coins to be able to quickly pay a busy bartender, I always used euro 'bills.' The result: a pocket filled with so many coins, I walked with a limp. I'm not kidding.

Live music, a pint, friendly fans. NOW I'm in Ireland. Once settled in with a cold pint (again, still holding off on a Guinness), I take in the sounds of Andrew Bird, a really talented musician from America who sang, played guitar, and played the violin mostly. I thought he was great, and the crowd appreciated his set. I had heard about Andrew Bird only because he had played with Josh before. Small world.

A Warning. At this point, let me tell you that the pints are going down like water. I usually only drink once maybe twice a week - on the weekend - with friends. Despite my consumption during this trip, I don't have a drinking problem or anything, but....I'm on vacation...In feckin' Ireland for the first time...On a 'high' because of the excitement of it all. Let's just say that this moment, during Andrew Bird's set, is probably my last sober moment in Ireland; I sober up somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean coming back to the States ;-) . So many details from this point must be 'taken with a grain of salt.' This trip was a celebration of my finally getting overseas, of Josh Ritter's music, of meeting friends I've made through this website, of my time off from life back home. And I was celebrating. And note: when you're solo and don't have anyone with you to converse with, sips at the pint are a substitution. Ah, good times, good times...

The band Clem Snide, onstage at Whelan's. Yes, this song DID feature a tuba (look right).
How cool is that?

Lead singer Eef Barzelay.

Clem Snide. I really, really dig this band. This trip to Ireland for me is a series of "firsts," and I'm proud to be able to say that the first time I ever saw this band live was "at Whelan's in Dublin, Ireland!" My Ireland experience couldn't start off any better.

[To hear a free mp3 available on www.clemsnide.com, you can click HERE. The song is called "All Green." What an appropriate title, considering I'm in green Ireland. Coincidence?]

They're a great, talented band, and I encourage fellow music fans to check them out.

So my first day and night in Ireland is huge success. Now I'm really pumped up for the next few days: seeing Josh and the guys again, hearing them play, experiencing them on another level. An 'Irish' level....

The rest of the night was a simple walk back to the hotel, but I'm not ready to go to bed. I'm accustomed to "last call" happening somewhere near 2 a.m. And in NYC, last call often happens around 3 or 4 a.m. So I head over to the Foggy Dew, which is supposed to be a quick meeting place of Josh fans from the message board the next day before the Olympia show. I'm not surprised to find that the bartender is of course incredibly friendly, and when he learns that I'm in town to see Josh Ritter, he calls over a few gals who are Josh fans and are going to the show Friday night as well. I give one of them a few live shows that I happen to be carrying with me (it's all about spreading the love afterall), and we have a great chat about Ireland, Josh and the Band, music, and America.

This trip so far is going a little TOO well. A bad turn of luck must be awaiting me somewhere. Well, I got this out of the way when I got back to the hotel, sit on a small stool at the desk and I go tumbling backwards in a somersault when the back legs snap like toothpicks. If you saw this tumble in a movie, you'd swear that it looked "fake" or it was "bad acting." I thought falls like this only happened in a Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton short. [For the record, I don't believe that the many pints had too much to do with it; sure, if I hadn't drank so much perhaps I would have been able to regain my balance before toppling backwards. Doesn't matter - with the trip already going brilliantly, I needed to be knocked onto my ass]. I chalked this up as my one stroke of bad luck and looked to the heavens to say, "Okay, we're even. Roll on!"

Meanwhile...