Belfast - Belsonic 2012
w/ Thin Lizzy

18 August 2012

FM Tour Diary: Belfast Belsonic 2012 with Thin Lizzy - 18 August 2012

Yes, we did indeed go for a last couple of beers in the bar when we got back (it was probably never in doubt if the truth be known). Well actually just JK and me, and I had to persuade Jim to come along, albeit not very hard. I only had a couple of bottles of beer at the gig and I got to bed around 2am far more sober than after the previous night's excess. I woke just after 8am and gave our singer a wake-up call - unfortunately programming the alarm on his phone is a bit beyond the poor love.

I meet up with Adrian and my drinking buddy JK for a quick coffee in Costa. We have cabs booked for 10am and we head off to Manchester Airport T3. We check in, go through security and go in search of some breakfast. Oh dear T3, not much of a selection on the food front, very disappointing. So I make my second visit of the day to Costa and have a rather uninteresting cheese and ham toastie. B*gger... the flight is delayed 15 minutes.

We have a gate, gate 16... and it's a propeller job. JK is a very nervous flier at the best of times and he has a particular hatred of prop aircraft, so he's a bit quiet, poor sod. We board and I'm sat next to Captain Nervous. Don't worry Jim, I'll take care of you and hold your sweaty hand. The plane takes off and we climb through the clouds into the blue yonder. Well we don't actually get that high and it's a bit bumpy which is not so good for poor old Jim, bless.

The Captain said it was going to be a smooth flight over. He's just put the seatbelt signs back on and it's not at all smooth, quite the opposite. Hope he's a better pilot than he is at flight predictions. We start our descent, I can see the coast of Ireland looking rather lovely through my window. Nearly there Jim, hang on in there. We land safely and Jim is a much happier man being back on the ground.

We have two hire cars booked with Sixt over the interweb. The Sixt office is off-site from the airport and when we get there we're informed one car is booked with them and the other car is through Euro Car back at the airport??? They were booked and paid at the same time so how that happened we'll never know. The joys of cyberspace... Then there's some confusion over the excess payment on a credit card. The guy is an unhelpful tw*t and the long and short of it all is that it ends up costing more money. Mr. O goes back to the airport to pick up the other car. Madness!

We all finally arrive at the hotel and I head for the shower. It's one of those 'wet rooms' and admittedly they look very nice but they live up to their name and within minutes my hotel room is one big wet room. Refreshed, I head over to the venue. It's outdoor in a town square, surrounded by apartments. The weather's good, that'll do for me.

Our gear is going up and we get a much longer soundcheck than I expected. Once again it's sounding good where I am. Cool. Just time for a quick bite to eat in a nearby pub and it's back to get ready for the show. You can always find our dressing room no problem - just head for the one reeking of TCP and that will be ours. Mr. O gargles with it before a show. It seems to work for him so who are we to argue?

Thin Lizzy are headlining again tonight with local lads The Answer on before them. Sweet Savage are onstage going through their paces. We're up next. The Pink Panther fires up and we head out to the stage. It's still early (7.20pm) and people are still arriving but there are enough here already and the crowd has swelled considerably by the end of our 30-minute set. It's so weird playing for such a short space of time, you're just getting into your stride and it's over. The crowd seemed to enjoy it though so mission accomplished. Afterwards I do a quick interview and then by my watch it's beer o'clock. The Answer are on so I go out to have a look. Good show lads. I meet some fans and have a good chat with them. Great to meet you all.

I head backstage to replenish my empty glass and have a chat with some of the Lizzy boys who are about to go onstage. We're staying in Belfast tonight so we can watch their set. I'm travelling by train to Dublin at 10am so I'm trying to take it a bit easy on the beers. Lizzy are on so I head out front to have a watch. The constant touring has paid dividends, they're sounding great. Show over, we head back to the hotel and I have a nightcap with my old mate Jick, ok... a pair of nightcaps, then it's time for bed.

Belfast is a fabulous city. If you've never been then get yourself over there, you'll love it.

Well, that's another chapter over. Till the next time... be safe.