Liz and I showed up about a half hour before the doors even opened. Once we were inside we managed to snag a great spot near the stage that also offered the comfort of some stools for sitting - or that later in the night we also stood on above the crowd. At the time of the actual toast, I did not follow protocol and instead raised a pint of Bulmer's Hard Cider. That's when the music finally kicked off!
The High Kings were up first and we couldn't have asked for a better way to start the celebration. They play traditional/Irish folk music with lots of energy and great for dancing. When Liz & I had first arrived at the bar, there were two girls that arrived soon after us and were already clearly drunk. As the High Kings played, the girls were right up in front for the whole thing, and they showed no intentions of slowing down their drinking or of realizing they shouldn't jump up and down in a tube-top. It was great.During the evening we also made lots of new friends. One such group were the people standing in front of us. It was Ann & Paul (a married couple) and Paul's sister, Michelle. They were a riot - Ann kept yelling out "To Arthur!" after every song. They also enjoyed trash talking the second act, Oliver Cole, with us. It was really kind of embarrassing - the place was packed from the High Kings and then it was so empty by the end of Oliver Cole's set that the bar started letting people in off the street for free without tickets. I think part of the problem was that the styles of music were really mismatched - Oliver Cole plays more mellow/emo music and so it was a bit of a buzz kill after being hyped up from the High Kings.
Some of the other people we met were two women traveling around together. One was from London and the other from Melbourne, Australia. They started talking to us by commenting that they couldn't understand how I could be drinking Guinness, but that they supposed I was probably raised on it. Little did they know, I wasn't a native of Ireland. By the end of our interaction, the Australian women had asked how old I was and commented that she liked my buzz cut. When I said "thanks" and explained how new it was, she actually called me gorgeous...which always feels fabulous ha. Later in the night we met another woman from London who was in Dublin for business. She couldn't stop laughing because Paul was getting so excited (seriously, like a little school girl) about Tim Robbins being the final act.
People really did start going crazy though when it was announced. It got ridiculously packed and Tim stayed outside with security while his band set up. Another girl I met from Australia (who had fabulous leopard print pants that are best described as baggy stretch pants) did manage to get a photo with him outside before he went on stage - but she had to work for it! She just walked right up to him and asked for a photo even though he was surrounded by security. He said something to the effect of, "Really? I'm about to go on stage in, like, a minute and you really want a photo with me right now?" And she said, "Yes, I do." So he apparently answered again, "Really, you seriously want a photo with me right now?" But she didn't give up! So she said, "Yes, I want a photo with you." So he took a photo with her, though I don't think he smiled.
As for the music of Tim Robbins & the Rogues Gallery Band, well...I guess in my opinion, it's a good thing he's such a fine actor. Actually, the music really wasn't bad but the members didn't really seem in sync with each other - so maybe they'd just been toasting to Arthur quite a bit before arriving at our location. I've uploaded two short snippets of the performance on YouTube, so you can judge for yourself.Tim & Band - snippet one
Tim & Band - snippet two
All in all - it was a fabulous night. I'm already disappointed I won't be able to be here for the celebration again next year. Cheers! To Arthur!
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