Onwards via the M50 (a €3 toll), the M4 (a €2.80 toll) and the M6 (a €1.80 toll) to Galway, the City of Tribes. I checked into the highly adequate Amber Lodge Bed & Breakfast, located very centrally and minutes later my fellow revellers Charmaine and Mark had arrived from Limerick. Off then, to the Radisson Live Lounge, where Mark had procured a triumvirate of free tickets to the Cut Copy gig there. After a pit-stop in Supermacs, where my low-fat regime was decimated with chips and a quarter pounder, we arrived at the venue to be informed that all matters gig-gily were running a little late, so we adjourned to the lobby bar, where Mark and I celebrated with pints of Heineken (a saucy €4.70 each) whilst Charmaine had a vodka and 7-Up combo (an outrageous €7). Still, the ambience and company was good, and a couple of rounds later, the Live Lounge was ready for us, and the nice Heineken pixies rewarded us with a free bottle of Heineken as we entered.
Support act Holy Ghost from New York were playing as we entered, and whilst they decided not to utter a word during their entire set, their sound was quite ear-pleasing. Then came Cut Copy from Australia who enlivened the crowd instantly, and steamed through their choon-catalogue. Rather mean-spiritedly (pardon the delicious pun), the good people of Heineken decreed that naught else but their ale be served in the venue, and when I ventured upstairs back to the hotel bar to retrieve something stronger, I was warned that anything that was not Heineken would not be permitted to enter back downstairs. Hrrrrummmmph! Two ladies had the right idea, choosing to down tequilas upstairs - they very kindly offered me a shot, but I declined, on strict medical grounds. Back downstairs, I bumped into ex-IBT colleague and party associate, Lady Orla Lynch, who had travelled down from Dublin too and was in great form.
The gig concluded just before midnight (I'd imagine) so we headed the very short distance to Shop Street which is Galway Party Central, and enjoyed some vodka and Lucozade glucose goodness in An Dail pub, before venturing on to Halo nightclub. Alas, we were informed that it was closed - the victim of recession?, surely not!, as last time I checked it was a veritable money-printing machine. Rather than immerse ourselves in floods of tears, we walked the 20 yards or so to C.P.'s nightclub, which was clearly benefitting hugely from Halo's demise, judging by its packed attendance. Spirits were high and plentiful and the choons kicked like a line of dancers at the Moulin Rouge. All too soon, the music concluded (at about 3.30am, it is reckoned) and then someone thought it would be a great idea to venture for yet more burger and chip nourishment, this time in McDonald's. I would be lying if I clearly remembered what I had to eat, but in traditional Galway style, banter was had with many random characters, including a Leaving Cert student from Kilkenny whose clearly-quite-wealthy-and-lax folks had given him their blessing for a weekend in Session City, with whom I had a great chat as Gaeilge and en francais, presumably to help him obtain educational gain from the occasion. On the walk home, we then chatted with two Offaly chappies, who were trying to tell Charmaine that they were sky-dive instructors, but were caught out when they said that if the parachute ever failed in a tandem dive, they would not take the fall for their passenger - this is an utter no-no in the profession. Leaving them eventually to go off and meet prostitutes, we made the short stroll back to the Amber Lodge, concluding a hugely enjoyable evening.
Contentment : 16 / 25
Excitement : 3.5 / 10
Memorability : 5.5 / 15
Overall Score : 50% (6th out of 63)
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