Barcelona Trip, 16-20 May - Part I

Yolanda was getting married in the vicinity of Barcelona, and so I had decided to take a couple of days extra to check out Gaudí's creations as I'd never been to Spain before. As a really great bonus, my sister then decided that she was gonna join me! She got there on Monday, and I arrived Wednesday. She would leave Friday, when I was to go meet the wedding party.

Anyway, the approach to Barcelona held a lot of promise which turned out to be fulfilled completely. We were flying parallel to the city, over the water, so I had a good view of the city, but was straining to find La Sagrada Familia. Anyway, what a lovely way to start the trip! I found city centre and Mona without any problems, and after a good lunch we set off to go see Casa Míla, also known as La Pedrera (The Quarry). Our hostel was just around the corner from Casa Batlló, another Gaudí must-see, and Casa Míla was a few blocks away. We decided to start with La Pedrera and continue on to Park Güell later in the day.

Here's a picture of the street-facing facade of the building:

I cannot get over the imagination that Gaudí had, and this goes for everything of his we saw. Simply and utterly amazing. One thing I will say, though, is that you can only take in so much Gaudí in one day. We had split our four places (Casas Míla & Battló, La Sagrada Familia and Park Güell) over 3 days, which was perfect. You just get to a point where you cannot process any more awesomeness, and so you would not appreciate anything properly you saw after that. I think we had a really good distribution, and it never got too overwhelming.

Anyway, back to La Pedrera. :) Here's a picture of the really cool ventilation shafts, which looked like helmeted heads. I absolutely loved the sinuous lines and the mosaics, which are Gaudí trademarks if anything. I have wanted to see Park Güell since reading a description of it in a William Gibson novel (Mona Lisa Overdrive). It did not
disappoint - check out this photo with the famous undulating bench that runs around the top of the Sala Hipóstila, the forest of
columns with lovely mosaics in the ceiling.

You could happily spend a day here, just chilling out, if it's not hot enough to go to the beach. Here's a picture of one of the many fantabulous stone colonnades dotted around the park. As it frequently does with Gaudí, the stone looks like you've taken a mixer to it and just left it like that. I've said it before and I'm gonna say it again - amazing....

Anyway, that's it for Part I, stay tuned for Part II, where we go for tapas......

Concert report - Sinéad O'Connor in Dublin Castle

The weather forecast had said 'rain', but thankfully that only turned out to apply to the early afternoon, and not much at that (at least not in Dun Laoghaire, where I was until I went to town for the gig), so by the time the Delorentos took the stage around 6.30 pm, the sky was clearing to reveal a lovely blue hue.

The venue was Dublin Castle, more specifically the big courtyard - very nice. The space was divided by a small stripe of 'no-man's-land', similar to the lay-out U2 had in Croke Park, although on a much smaller scale. I went into the front section and stood with my back to the barrier. That way, I still had a good view, but didn't get the crush from behind that you would invariably get even a bit of, if you were standing at the very front. Also, it meant there was plenty of room to dance. :)

The Delorentos are an up-and-coming Dublin band. I thought the music was good, and they definitely have passion, which is always great, but I'm afraid I didn't find their stuff all that original. I already have records by Coldplay, The Killers, Snow Patrol and Editors, so I won't be adding Delorentos to the collection, if you get my drift.

Next up were Kíla, an Irish band playing jigs and reels and songs as Gaeilge, plus a lot more. Very infectious! One guy in the audience, near me, had a couple of good Riverdance moves :) The band were obviously enjoying themselves immensely, and played up a really great storm. At one point a band member asked us to scream at front man and bodhrán player Rónán Ó Snodaigh, because it was his birthday. We did our best, hehe.

Then, finally, at 9 pm - Sinéad. I am going to try and reconstruct the set list, as far as I remember, but I'm warning you now that the sequence may not be correct (I've given the album and year in brackets though, because I know that much for sure)

'The Emperor's New Clothes' (I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got 1990)
'I Am Stretched On Your Grave' (I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got 1990)
'You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart' (In The Name Of The Father soundtrack 1994)
'My Lagan Love' (Sean-Nós Nua 2002)
'Jump In The River' (I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got 1990)
Two songs from her new album 'Theology' - can't remember the titles. I think one of them was 'Something Beautiful'
'Nothing Compares 2 U' (I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got 1990)
'Never Get Old' (The Lion & The Cobra 1987)
'The Lamb's Book Of Life' (Faith & Courage 2000)
'This Is The Last Day Of Our Acquaintance' (I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got 1990)
'Mandinka' (The Lion & The Cobra 1987)
'Thank You For Hearing Me' (Universal Mother 1994)
'Fire On Babylon' (Universal Mother 1994)
'In This Heart' (Universal Mother 1994)

For the encore, she played 2 new songs from 'Theology' (including an adapted version of 'Rivers Of Babylon'). One was called 'If You Had A Vineyard'.

She was in great form throughout the gig, and was getting a bit of a kick out of the massive response to 'Nothing Compares 2 U', I think. She played a lot of my favorite songs, like 'You Made Me The Thief...', 'I Am Stretched...' and 'In This Heart'. The last song is an a capella song on the album, where she starts out singing the first verse alone, and then harmonies are gradually added in subsequent verses. Nothing about that changes on the live version, only who provides the harmonies. It's absolutely gorgeous. Hearing that, on a clear evening, in May, in Dublin, with the crowd being completely silent (for once) was just fantastic. Her voice has lost nothing of its force after all these years of singing - amazing both to watch and to listen to.

Concert was over app. half past 10, so plenty of time to catch a bus home. All in all, an evening very well spent....

I'm gonna get a guitar, learn three chords, and see about some truth....

Yep. I'm gonna join the ranks of guitar players.

I still have to buy the guitar though. Should be fun. I have a lot of U2 and Tori songs on the list of must-learns. We'll see how it goes.

The last time I played an instrument was no success. (that one time in high school where I played bass, doesn't really count, because I didn't have to learn anything. My teacher wrote down the junctions I had to put my fingers on to get the notes. I got blisters on my finger from the strumming. Argh.)

I was around 10, and the choice for some unfathomable reason fell on the accordion. Which I then proceeded to dislike playing. I think I stuck with it for two or three months, before I packed it in. I remember having to learn 'Jingle Bells' (it was coming up to Christmas time), but I can't remember whether I made it or not. Most likely not, haha.

Anyway, back to the guitar. I've had a wee browse on eBay, but I have no idea which brands are good and which are not, so I think I'll go into a music store in town and ask for some advice. I haven't decided whether I will take lessons, or try teaching myself yet - I could try the latter first and see how I go......

American Doll Posse

Tori Amos has released her 9th studio album on May 1, called 'American Doll Posse'. There are five girls in the Posse, all with their own personae, hairstyles, wardrobes, characters - Tori, Clyde, Pip, Santa & Isabel. They are all singing different songs on the album. Sound weird? A bit, but only if you don't already know a bit about Tori. The Posse together make one whole woman.

On Tori's website (in the Bio section), the Posse are listed together with the Greek archetype that they draw from, because in ancient Greece all aspects of the feminine were considered divine and had incarnations within the Greek pantheon. For example, Clyde draws from Persephone.

If you want to know more about what Tori is doing and what this all means, check out her website.

So far, after just one listen, the songs that I instantly love turn out to all be Clyde's songs. Some of the other songs will require a few more listens, but that's okay.

Really can't wait to see this album played live! Can't wait to see Tori at any rate! I hope she does a Piano Bar thing again!

For those of you who don't know what the Piano Bar is, it's something she has done on previous tours. You can send in requests for cover versions that you would like her to play, and every night she picks a couple. It may or may not be the same concert you end up going to, but it's still a very cool idea I think. I already have a song in mind....it's a U2 song of course....am not going to say which one it is though.....hehehehe. In fact, she has already played a U2 cover once - a brilliant version of 'Running To Stand Still'.

I think she is a very strong singer, both with regards to voice and material. I'm not saying that I understand what her songs are about, not by a long shot, but they are just so darn catchy. They tend to stay in my head even if I have no idea what they mean (at least not on a conscious level). Like, right now, I have 'Playboy Mommy' on constant repeat in my head. Last week it was 'Spark'.

Some of them are straightforward enough ('Yo George' springs to mind). Most of them are not. I like that though - you have to work a little bit to get it, do a bit of homework. Also, it means her albums make for interesting listening for years to come - I know most of the album 'Scarlet's Walk' off by heart by now, but I'm still no closer to the heart of some of the songs. That was my first Tori album (thanks Elisa, for introducing me to Tori by playing the gorgeous 'A Sorta Fairytale' from this album. I've just ordered 'To Venus & Back' which will complete the album collection).

What I also like about her, is that she really has something to say if you care to listen. It's not just some bubblegum-pop-3 minute sweetness, it actually has a weight and a substance. She is rooted somewhere, she takes the time to grow the songs, to research her subjects, tap into the spirit and channel it, whatever it is, and I love that.

So, you can listen to Tori purely for her gorgeous voice and infectious grooves, or you can dig into the world in and behind the music. Either way, it's definitely worth it...

Lazy Weekend

This is just a wee post to say that I did absolutely nothing over the weekend.

Except watching DVD's and knitting that is. And a bit of eating every once in a while.

The DVD's were 'Pirates Of The Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest', and the 3rd series of 'Robin Of Sherwood' (with Jason Connery as Robin. Michael Praed left after the first two series, because he got a role on 'Dynasty'.)

'Robin Of Sherwood' is just the best adaptation of the Robin Hood legend, like, EVER, in my humble opinion. I remember watching this on German telly (ZDF, if I recall correctly), when I was little, and I love it as much now as I did then. Like 'Pirates' it's got all the ingredients for a fantastic tale - action, romance, comedy, beautiful landscapes, and mystery. Also like 'Pirates', it's got great actors in it (the majority of whom are very easy on the eye - that is always a good thing). Hehe.

Apart from that, it's also responsible for turning me onto Irish music, seeing as the Irish group Clannad wrote and performed the entire score for all 3 series. The result was the album 'Legend' released in 1983. For the third series they wrote some additional pieces, and changed others a bit (like the theme tune for example), but these pieces were never formally released. Anyway, 'Legend' is a pretty cool album and it fits the show itself like a glove, evoking the majesty of Sherwood and Herne the Hunter, the magic of Albion (one of the Seven Swords of Wayland) and the poignancy of the tale of Will Scarlet, and of Robin & Marion.

As for 'Pirates' it just rules - simple as that. Can't wait for the third instalment, so roll on 24 May when it releases in Irish cinemas. I hope they will do something similar to what was done with the 'Lord Of The Rings' movies, when 'Return Of The King' was released, and play all of the movies in sequence in the cinema. Stay tuned.....