Marlay Park review thread
 

Am I first back?!

seems so... How was it???

..looks like it!

I was blown away tonight. I hadn't expected it. I was very unsure as to how this gig would go, how a large, outdoor, noisy crowd of mixed hardcore, casual and non-fans would go down with Damien...but everyone on stage and off seemed to be having a great time of it.

I know that with such a huge crowd that opinions are going to vary, but from where I was stood (about 10 rows from the barrier separating the pit and the rest of us) I had a great night. Talkative crowd (particularly annoying how some people were on the phone through the gig...) but not as bad as I expected from where I was :-) This was about my 20th time of seeing him, and definitely for me ranks with the best of shows...

Got there in time to miss Fionn :-) Willy Mason was good to lay back in the sunshine and listen too - I suspect I wouldn't have enjoyed him so much in the rain. Guillemots were good, especially liked the woodwind/brass section. KT Tunstal seemed over pretty quick, but have little interest in her so that was fine by me.

Damien started solo with Professor. Great start. Someone else needs to put up the setlist cos I'm useless at remembering that. Maybe Delicate was next - with Shane and Vyv, then Joel and Shakira's Drummer came on for the 3rd song. I remember thinking at that point how it started great with The Professor, but 2nd and 3rd song created a bit of a lull and I was starting to get the feeling this huge setting wasn't going to work...but then it went right up a gear and banished all such thoughts from my head!

Volcano - a new arrangement at the start, which was amazing...the You Do Not Need Me line was looped through the whole of the first verse of Me, My Yoke and I...this was an incredible performance of it!

No surprises in the set - only non-9/O tracks were Professor and Woman Like A Man.
For the first time I found myself enjoying Dogs. I really "got it" this time!
Elephant is about going to a really dirty toilet, cleaning it up, putting tissue on the seat, sitting down....and then touching the bowl with your penis...
Vyv did a brilliant Never Leave You.
I Remember/Bang Bang was amazing...a high point that was only beaten (for me) by Woman Like A Man. They started with Coconut Skins, saying that it was the last song of the night. Song finished and a drumming jam started, which went in to the loudest, most frantic Woman Like A Man I ever heard. If there was a roof on Marlay Park it would have been blown right off. In fact it sounded like we were indoors, it was that loud.

Ended with encore of Blower's Daughter and Cheers Darlin', featuring Fionn, Guillemots (woodwind sounding wonderful through it) and Glen Hansard. Dunno where he appeared from!

So that's my two-penneth worth... Anyone else back yet?!

Hope it was absolute **** and that it rained nuclear waste with a power failure leaving everyone in a state of overwhelming anxiety :)

oh yeah - this was my first gig post-lisa (although not the first time seeing him without her). I only missed her once - at the end of Eskimo Friends (the high bits in foreign language..) He played that straight after calling Tomo's and Lisa's voicemails and getting everyone to shout "We love you Tomo/Lisa". Was quite touching!

...and the end of Accidental Babies was brilliant too. Regular piano version but extended with full band.

oh wow... that sounds so good! I am so jealous :(

Arrrrrg!!!!.... i'm sooo jealous i wanna be there!!! :crybaby2:
Sounds like a suuuper grrrreat concert! ... ohh how i love Woman like a man so i'm even more jealous!!

I'm happy you had a really good time!! :)

aww!!! whish i could have been there for that !!!

Really unexpectedly amazing gig- I really thought it would be crap and I was so wrong. I absolutely loved the encore of Cheers Darlin' with everyone on stage- Fionn Regan and Glenn Hansard came out of nowhere for it.

I thought Damo would hate all the drunken teenage girls singing along with his songs but he seemed ok with the whole thing to be honest.

Fionn was really good- he was only on for about 40 mins but it was really mellow and nice- not much people around at the start to hear him play but I was in the pit and it was pretty cool.

I left for a while during Willy Mason and on my way back in i noticed Fionn walking in the entrance in front of me.... and then i noticed Damo beside him.... It was really surreal because they just looked like normal fans (well apart from their mad long Hair and Damos orange trousers and blue coat). They just walked right into the crowd beside us and nobody seemed to bat an eyelid or to seem to recognise them.

I did the stupid fan thing and went to talk to him of course- I just asked him- "Hey i don't wanna be a pr*ck but any chance of a quick photo" he laughed and said "Sorry but I don't do photo's - It's just that i'd have more and more people coming up to me".... I know I shouldn't have asked but really wanted a pic with him or to talk to him. I kinda expexted him to say no though.

Fionn and Willy walked around the crowd later and were taking photos Left Right and Centre with Fans later on which was pretty cool.

I thought it was really cool when he rang Lisa from the stage- hopefully that could have been like a big "I'm Sorry" to her- as he said it is a pretty special gig to do it at like

All in all a great day though- and i'm still pretty drunk which is always a plus

:confused: Huh? I don't see how that story relates to that song. Could someone explain it to me?

Do think that maybe sometimes he pulls his stories out of nowhere just to amuse himself? He might be laughing at his fans right now thinking "HAHA! They think this song is about dipping my penis in a toilet bowl!" I think about that sometimes when he's telling his stories....

Wow, it sounds great! i'm jealous--so he actually called Lisa, eh? Thats surprising. And Glen! aww I wish I could have seen him with Damo. I'm looking very much froward to my gig soon, and a hopeful i remember>bang bang!

Hey when you sober up can you try to explain??? So he shouted out to Lisa during the gig and she was in the audience???

No. He called and left her and Tomo a voicemail.

my thinking too:D

wonder what's going to be next.

Okay... I have to know... did he actually PLAY Elephant or just talk about it?

I was at the Castlebar show and that is what I wanted to hear the most... however, if he had played it and told that story, it may have ruined it for me!! ;)

Also... did Glen Hansard sing anything??


Dying to see the setlist....



Peace out!

Also one of my best gigs, great mood and no rain (Damo thanked the skies)! :hello2:
I was on the first row, I'll post some pics when I'm back home.
Setlist should be (not sur about the chronology...): :wave:

The Professor & La fille danse
Older Chests
Delicate
Volcano
Rootless Tree
Me, My Yoke and I
Dogs
Elephant
Cannonball
Accidental babies
Eskimo
I remember
Coconut Skins
Woman like a man

The blower's daughter
Cheers darlin'

oliv c'est officiel, i loath you :wave:

was definitely Volcano in to Me, My Yoke and I - the You Do Not Need Me line looping through it.

As for the story about Elephant - of course I don't believe that is what Elephant is actually about - he was metaphorically speaking...you can be so so careful to make sure everything around you is perfect - even the things that you know are bad you clean them up and protect yourself from them...but you can't protect yourself always from everything - sooner or later your dick will touch the toilet bowl of life....and I'm sure he has a tendency to make these up anyway!

Damien came, saw and conquered Marley park. I thought it was excellent. Here are some pics to go with the above reviews.

http://picasaweb.google.nl/marc.verh...RiceMarleyPark

i know what you mean. i think i understand his story about the song, partially, cos understanding is always limited and subjective. just the terms of toilet bowl and dick won't go well with the song in girls' mind. but i think he might be like some people who love to bring on the subject of toilet on dinning table:p.

thanks for pics. so many people on the stage for Cheers Darling, i only recognize Glen, was it a boy by Shane?

come on though guillemots were better want they? lets be honest.
there live show is amazing.

Ah, Marketa was there too! <3 Must have been priceless! :) Thank you for the pics and reviews!

PS: where was Fionn? Even if I love his music so much I don't really know how he looks like! :P

Makes sense...Just when I first read that my first thought was WTF. But that explanation makes more sense...Dk why I didn't think of that....

I'm not able to see your pictures..it only says "Loding...", but it doesn't do anything. :crybaby2: Am I doing something wrong?

great pics!!!! .... especially luv the ones for cheers darling with everyone on stage!! even though i dont know who the rest of the people besides marketa glen and the band are.... *sight* ohh those orange pants ... :smiley5:

thanks for posting!

...Gosh the professor is always the perfect start!!.... luv that song !

Just to point out in Cheers Darlin' he stuck in the chorus of Fool and then did an awesome improv towards the end which first lines were "I see girl in pink, man with scar on face," can't remember the other 10 or so. I absolutely loved this gig - fuller review later :D

Edit: Oh and this show confirmed that there was no hard feelings between Damien and Lisa, he rang up both her's and Tomo's voicemail and got the Marlay Park crowd to scream "We love you [insert name]"

So therefore I am on Lisa Hannigan's voicemail. I was also gonna try and bluetooth Damien but he didn't have it on :D

I did make a recording, but sadly since I was singing for just about all the gig (apologies...I just can't help it), the recording is more me than Damo. For the good of humanity it won't ever hit the light of day ;)

:smiley24: Goblin

LOL :smiley8:

The sexiest goblin of them all.