Belfast

There’s a good scene going on in Belfast.  At least to me there is.  Lots of folks came to the show.  I played at the Menagerie, a good bar with good people and good beers.

The band, Son of Shrimp, invited me to play with them.  They are awesome with the prog rock.  Really nice fellows.  The other fellow, John Cairns, was good, also.

Jimmy and his new wife, Georgie, came and brought some of my new fast friends from Jimmy’s wedding.  This one guy, Brendan, looks like Robin Leach and has the mannerism of the great Steve Porter.

The way Brendan looks. On the right.

We had played trivia at the Farmers Inn the previous night and I gave him answers like a traitor because he’s that cool.

I gave him Cleavon Little. He came to my show.

Jimmy gave us a ride around Belfast.  He offered to take his car since I had EU Ireland plates which I guess might not be cool in some parts.  He drove us by a police station where he was almost shot during a riot in the 80’s as he was driving home from work and some kid stood in front of his van with a gun pointed at him.  Jimmy leaned below the windshield and hit the gas.  Looking in his rearview mirror he saw the kid getting up off the side of the road laughing.

We saw a lot of murals.  A lot of them are beautiful and a lot are just heartbreaking.  Check these out.

Republican

Loyalist

I’ll go into more stories if you and I ever sit down with a beer.  But I will say this now:  The Irish people are lovely.  Really nice people.  You can have a few beers with one and you might be friends for life.  Holy shit are they kind.  And Belfast is awesome.  You should go.