Back to the Fleadh

I have to start by saying that this blog would not have been possible without the help of Henry, one of the cooks at the New Sydney Hotel who just gave me the wonderful latte he’d just made for himself (I think I must’ve had a desperately needy expression). It pretty much sums up what it’s all about down here. Within moments of arriving, we were using the owner Al’s computer to hurriedly finish off some of the Russian documents for next week, had pints in our hands and were all ready smiling.

I’m sitting here doing something I really love to do when we’re on the road; I’m sitting in an empty pub in the early morning. Everything is clean, tidy and arranged, and the old lady (the New Sydney Hotel was founded in 1835) is just resting, getting some much-needed sleep before it all starts again and midday, as it has for the past years. In my mind I can still the the ghosts of the hundreds of people that were here last night, singing, dancing, playing instruments. I love this pub. It’s my favourite one in Australia, and about the closest thing I’ve found to a ‘proper’ pub. There’s no Keno, no poker machines, not even a jukebox. It sells locally produced beers and ciders (they even have a Kentish Ale that I’ve fallen in love with) along with drinks we don’t get in Brisbane, like Magners pear cider and even genuine Strong Suffolk Ale, the walls are covered with flotsam that is just fascinating, and the food is fantastic too, so hats off to Henry, and the New Sydney.

As most of you might know, we have a very special relationship with Tasmania, and to say that we’d been looking forward to these gigs at Fleadh Ceol is like saying that I like the occasional coffee. It’s an oft-used phrase, but for us it’s perfect.

It’s like coming home.

In a way, Súnas wouldn’t be the band it is now without the Tasmanian adventures. It was the first small tour down here that really woke us up to the fact that people may actually come out to listen to us (that sounds a bit self-deprecating, and I guess it is, but really, we’d never taken ourselves all that seriously). Tasmania made us re-think that. There’s also the whole Helen factor, and although each of us have different meanings and thoughts there, it’s still very much a part of it. This is our first trip down here since she passed away, and even though it’s only been a couple of months, It’s still very much on our minds, and the people down here that knew her too. Sarah told me she had an odd moment on stage last night where she looked up and really expected to see her out there somewhere. I think she is, there’s just too much joy and happiness for her not to be.

Last night’s gig was brilliant; hot, hard, fiery, fast, unpredictable. But to be honest we had more fun watching everyone else perform. Tonight will be a little different, more relaxed I think now that we’ve got over the initial performance bump with Jamie (who’s standing in for Bridget for this weekend). But then maybe not. We never seem to be able to control these things!