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We were invited by Smiley Bolger to play at the 4th Jan 98 Vibe, about a week before Christmas 97 - not much time to get sorted. We booked a van so we could take our gear across by ferry, but on the day the weather was so severe the ferries were cancelled. Being resourceful, and determined, out of our own pockets we paid for air tickets to Dublin (we were doing this gig for love remember), just carrying our guitars and drumsticks.
Arriving at Dublin Airport about midday Saturday 3rd, we made our way to the bar for our first real Guinness in months - to calm our nerves, of course. Dave and Paul were so shaken by the flight over that they had to take a few nips from the bottles of Jamieson's they each were carrying. This settling of nerves carried on unabated until the early hours of the morning - by which time they'd forgotten why they were drinking.
Early Saturday evening we went to Slatteries, where in the upstairs bar, some backline kit was available to rehearse with. Needless to say it was crap, and part of the real reason Brian Downey did not appear - the rest of the reason was to do with Smiley cutting him off in the middle of a phone call. All that stuff about him being unwell, or losing his drumsticks was of course bullshit.
Anyway, after our practice we went back to the downstairs bar where we made full use of the free drinks tokens we had been given. Later on, the upstairs bar was opened to punters and we made our way back up to see some of the other bands warming up. Horror of horrors, one of the organisers came up and said 'you're on next'. Oh my god. We were wrecked by now and expected to give of our best to the assembled fans and anoraks.
We struggled in vain to keep it going but the drummer was practically catatonic, and some of our asides were taken as insults - not our intention. We were there to have a good time and not get all precious about it. We were rockin' and rollin' and keeping the spirit alive - actually most of the spirit was in our blood stream.
The set was cut short, but surprisingly a few friendly faces told us they enjoyed it, although a few sour faces told us we hadn't hit it off with everyone. Ah well some you win...
If we'd known beforehand that we were supposed to be playing that night....I think we'd still have got pissed. Well, we made our way back to the hotel and stayed up in the bar until about 3 a.m.
and amazingly 3 of us got up in time for a cooked Irish breakfast by 10 a.m. - you've got to do these things properly. We then went for a walk around Dublin's fair city. 
About 1 pm we went to the Temple Theatre where we did a sound check and met John Earle ("from the Graham Parker band, on saxophone"). A sound fellow, great sense of humour and pissed off that in Dublin he's only remembered for his bit on "Live & Dangerous" - he has of course worked with many top artists in the meantime. He was about the only one that didn't get to re-record his part on that 'live' album.
back to the hotel to unwind, where Dave demonstrated how he plays his drums in his sleep.
We were back in the theatre to play our half-hour set at 6:10 pm, having had 10 minutes cut by videos over-running - this was to set the pattern of the evening as everyone and their granny got up on stage to do their bit, which sadly lead to Thin Az Lizzy having their set cut short - some of the organisation left a lot to be desired, meanwhile the main organiser was sinking them as fast as they got in his hand - the words "kettle", "pot" and "black" come to mind.
Being the underdogs of the show meant we had what was left over in terms of available songs to perform, so we did the ones no-one else touched. We did them adequately but I think we were a bit unnerved by the previous night's events. Remember, although we only do Thin Lizzy, we are an amateur band who only gig once or twice a month. So I think it's unfair of others to make disparaging remarks about us not being in the same league as Limehouse Lizzy or Thin Az Lizzy. Of course not, we're just enthusiastic fans of the music, playing it in the spirit of the original - surely that's what counts, not 'who's better than who' (jeez that pissed me off).
After the set, we stood at the back of the auditorium and loads of Lizzy fans came up, shook our hands, and said how much they enjoyed it - now that's what it is all about. Shame the place was only half full at the time we played.
Well, guess what we did then - well actually we went for something to eat, and then hit the VIP bar in the crypt under the theatre.
Later took these fuzzy pics of Philomena on stage....
...and this of John Earle on stage with Thin Az Lizzy.
Then to cap it all, Paul won the prize draw - a TV. He's so proud because it says 'Philips' on the box - we hadn't the heart to tell him it wasn't THAT Philip's.
Still it gave us a good laugh to see him struggling with it onto the 'plane and through customs without any help from us.
