Wednesday 2 July 2014

But this eternal blazon must not be To ears of flesh and blood.

The worst band to ever play Sir Henry's.

It might have been the darkness that added to the mystique of Sir Henry's. It might have been that the floor was un-seeable but could very much be felt. It might have been the posters strewn accross the corridor in with bands' names that seemed to be made up on the flick of a coin. (Flick of a coin could be a good name for a band). It might have been the flaggon of cider that we got somebody to buy for us in Galvin's on the Bandon Road on the way into town. It might have been the neo-punks with hair to the ceiling and the Jesus and Mary Chain scrawled across the back of a parka. 
I'd meet my cousins there. Damien and Raymond Mullally. The Mullally's were music royalty in Cork. Their friend Morty McCarthy was the coolest person I knew. We went to watch bands. My friends, first Gary Gibbons, later Derek Coffey and Ian Flanagan and later still I dragged my girlfriend now my wife Fiona to watch bands.the smaller the better. The more obscure the better. 
I loved the Cork bands. 3355409s with their little guitarist with a bumblebee jumper, Idol Joy, Porcelain Tears, Cypress, Mine! who should have been huge, Belsonic Sound and so many that came and went with not even a Fanning Session to their name. My childhood friend Kieran Cotter worked as a roadie for Cypress, Mine! and later the brilliant Blue in Heaven. He also got to play with Cork Super group The Mad Dancing Bastards From Hell. Another friend Patrick Healy played with his band there. (The name of the band is gone). The How and Why Insects went to my school. Everything was close, immediate but still so far away. The barrier from audience to stage was enormous. I needed to hurdle it. i needed to be in a band. 
Gary Gibbons and I formed a band. Gary could play. His father Paul played in a Jazz band. Gary had some gorgeous guitars. At 17, I could hold a note no better than I could hold my beer. Gary sang. I wrote horrendous agit-pop lyrics.I learned how to play the Bass guitar. I bought a Bass and an Amp from Small Paul in Crowley's on MacCurtain street. I got lessons from Sinead Lohan's dad in Greenwood out the road in Togher. He told me I had no rhythm. I didn't care. I had the Bass. I had the trenchcoat. I had a glittery shirt.  We found a drummer, Ivan Murray. we found a rehersal room in Togher Boy's School. We called oursleves The 5 O' Clock Heroes after the Jam song. We were ready to go. We played a couple of talent shows. Sean O' Neill in Henry's was allowing bands play on Tuesday nights when Henry's would otherwise be empty. We were in. 
My brother arranged for Don Creedon to do sound for us. We were booked. We made some posters. We had twelve songs ready. Forty of our friends, all underage came to watch us and we played Henry's. Don Creedon said we were the worst band he ever heard. We didn't care. We platyed Henry's. Then we broke up. I haven't touched a Bass Guitar since. Gary and Ivan are still paying together with Gary's brother Ivan. They are good. I wasn't. 
But I played Sir Henry's.

3 comments:

  1. hey John - the a fore mentioned Ivan Murray here! Thanks for immortalising this gig forever - brilliant piece. say hello sometime - ivan@spacecaketheband.com

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  2. Great to hear the full story behind the vague classroom allusions!

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  3. perfect. Punk rock. RIP Don

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