Greetings from Cork!!

And now the end is near, and so we face our final curtain....

After our lovely stay in Thurles, we packed up and headed south for Cork, detouring briefly to check out the impressive Rock of Cashel. Well, folks, it appears we're coming full circle. It's funny how this tour has been mapped out. Our start in the small, yet vibrant, city of Galway helped to ease us into the Irish way, and take a much welcome break from the rush of the American mindset. Time and again, we have been pleasantly surprised by each of the smaller villages we have visited along the way, enjoying each others' company and that of the many friendly locals we have encountered. This has been a dream of a tour, and I will truly miss everyone that I have had the pleasure to work and play with over the past five weeks. Sure, we'll see each other again stateside, but there's something special about what we've shared here on the Emerald Isle.

So here we are in Cork, a thriving cosmopolitan city full of shops restaurants, cafes, museums and galleries. We've left the small villages behind to ease ourselves back into city life and prepare for our return home to DC. This is our last hurrah on the tour, and boy what a hurrah it is. First of all, we are performing in a 100+ year old opera house called The Everyman Palace, and it is stunning! It seats somewhere around 650 people, and I understand we will be pretty much sold out Friday night. Our smallest house, thus far, has been an audience of about 130. They may have been a small audience, but they were certainly very enthusiastic. No word on the count for tonight, but I believe we neared 300 last night. Just awesome.

One of the best things about Cork is that it is arguably the music capitol of Ireland, and we have only been too willing to check out some local (and not so local) talent. After our show on Tuesday, we rushed out after a quick pint in the theatre bar to The Old Oak to see an awesome bluegrass band. Mark showed up and impressed all by showing Melissa a few quick moves on the dance floor. Who knew he had it in him? When the band wrapped, we headed off to a bar called Cranelane Theatre, where we caught the tail end of a solo acoustic act.

Last night, we started off at a piano bar called Classic to show support to a female acoustic/piano duo, half of which we met the previous night at Cranelane. Shortly thereafter, we headed back to Cranelane where we checked out a lively 4-piece rock band and danced our collective butts off with Richie and Melissa kicking it off. Joey B and Amanda joined the fray shortly thereafter. Their energy was so infectious that even I got out there and flailed about for a bit. Hopefully, no one remembers that part of the evening. :)

That's all for now. The Cork Folk Music Festival starts tonight, so it's a safe bet we'll be hitting the music venues once again. I'm looking forward to it.

Cheers!
Mike