IT ENDED WITH A PFFFPT...

It's been a while since the week-end. The Watercats have been busy digging and planting and humming and planning how to word the blog whilst the fella who owns the P.A found out that we broke it.

Saturday dawned white clouded and warm, the suspense of possible scorcher on it's cusp, though it never fully realised itself. As we pulled into Dungarvan, we passed a few ole fellas on the quay, one wearing a piss-pot bycycle helmet, discussing the latest shenanigans. A mist was collecting just off-shore and dispersed itself against the harbour walls. We parked up with a slight degree of difficulty and un-loaded our gear into The Moorings pub garden. An assortment of humanity swarmed beneath the tarpaulin roof and mingled itself between the tables and potted palms, smoking, screeching, laughing, mumbling...

We began setting up, later than anticipated and found that the plug sockets in the allocated place didn't actually work. The fellas from Dungarvan Brewing Company smiled their hello's and chucked us our first couple of pints. Somewhere amongst the hubub of making things work and doing things, a tall lady wandered over.
"Hi" she said in Cork tones
"I'm Niamh from the blog"
I was caught unawares... not used to meeting, until now almost fictional characters, I blurted out something stupid whilst I shook her hand like an ole fella, something like;
"how're you doing!... how're you finding fungarvan *laughlaughlaugh"
Then went on to mention in a genuine flabberghastment how tall she was...

I concluded from our far too brief encounter that she is a lovely person who deserved to be talked with more.. but The Watercats are rarely on a proper wavelength and the moment was missed, though I did wink and nod at her mid song as she left... again, in a rather ole fellery sort of way... The Ronald was on a totally wrong wavelength and missed the meeting completely, the moment only kicking in the next day where-by he walked up to a lady with a belly, patted it, asked if she'd popped yet and walked off, leaving her astounded.. (and me shamed...)

The gig went well, beer was taken full advantage of, and many nice things were said, and, we were loosely invited back next year :-)

Sunday dawned in a similar way, but todays gig was something a bit different. We had had a total of about five hours rehearsal time with our friend Ormy. He had asked us if we'd do a gig with him in the garden of a local resteraunt called Nude Food. It would be a fun filled collaboration of some of our songs, some of his songs and some covers. I would be called on to do harmonies (a thing I'm not so confident doing).. it could go either way. We had the first half planned and loosely rehearsed, the second half was a half written mystery.. but we were booked.. and people were queing up outside the door as we tried to locate an extension lead that reached the end of the garden...

Half an hour later than planned, The Watercats, Ormy and a last minute drummer called Kevin, began the evenings music. Would you believe, but it went extremely well. Kids jumping about, grown ups laughing, wine being consumed, an absolutely brilliant buzz filling the air, myself and the lads having an absolute ball. The first half ended well and myself and Ormy used the time to write out the second half and decide what each other should do for each song.. this was performance by the seat of your pants!

Half-way through the second half was going well, until we launched enthusiastically into begging time.. and everything went dead, with a soft plopping noise and a blatant suspension of loudness.... the gig was over... a ghost in the machine had fried something fundamentally important.

Not to worry though, the crowd was in great form and a cold, damp mist was begginning to move in from the near-by ocean. Ron joined in with the crowd for an impromptu 'swing low sweet chariot', until, eventually they moved on, a few tables foolishly leaving some half bottles of wine laying about, which the Ronald decanted into two full bottles, which he then drank with Ormy, who later swang himself off a lamp-post in a joyous manner.... if the summer is going to be full of gigs like these, then.. bring it on!

The sun has been shining ever since.. life is indeed, excellent... :-)

we do have a video, but it's taking an estimated two hours to upload to youtube! ffs!