U2 - iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour

I got a chance to go to London to see U2 on their iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour, so obviously I took it!

All photos are from the 3rd gig at the O2 London on October 29th 2015.

Carry On…

Sometimes you hear a song that stops you in your tracks.  I was at a festival a month or so back and was lucky enough to catch this guy live.  His name is Jason Sweeney from Donegal.  If you get a chance, check him out.  If you get another chance, check out his sister Aíne also an amazing talent.

Things to do in Vegas when you’re me!

Originally published 26/02/2015 on Chunk.ie

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Late last year I decided I needed a break, somewhere nice and quiet, somewhere with history, somewhere with culture… Somehow I ended up in Las Vegas for 5 days. The lord truly does work in mysterious ways.

I left a cold and wet Dublin at 7:10am and arrived in a warm and dry Las Vegas 15 hours later after a brief stop over in London. Normally I would collapse in a heap and relax for the night, but I had tickets for a concert that night and the show was to start at 8:00pm! That left me with only a few hours to clean up, grab a bite to eat and get to the gig, no time to rest!

Kiss Rocks Vegas

So I guess you know who was playing by now. Yeap, that’s right, it was KISS. I’m not the greatest KISS fan in the world, in fact, I probably only know 2 or 3 of their hits, but as it was a choice between Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Britney Spears and KISS, there was only going to be one winner.

Anyway, KISS were incredible. They might be pushing on in age and the music might be a tad 80s, but they put on a phenomenal show. Big screens, Lasers, Fireworks were all expected and delivered on. What I didn’t expect was to have Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley fly out over the stage on wires and land on a stage above my head for 3 songs. To put it simply, KISS rocked and I’d go see them again in a heartbeat. Simply fantastic.

Later that night as I strolled around the backstreets of Vegas lost, I got stopped on numerous occasions by people asking about the gig (I was wearing a KISS Rocks Vegas t-shirt). My surprise at their friendliness was matched by their surprise at hearing a thick Irish accent telling them all about it! Fun times indeed.

Absinthe

I had pre-booked Absinthe one night after coming in at about 4:00am. At that hour, I thought it wise that I go for the VVIP ticket… The next morning looking at the confirmation email that told me I spent $171.00 on a ticket, I was wondering just how wise I was.

Absinthe is set in a large Spiegeltent on the grounds of Caesars Palace and the show is difficult to explain to be honest. It’s a mix of everything from burlesque to trapeze artists and on to roller skating duos swinging each other round by the neck.

According to the Las Vegas Sun, Absinthe is “the most inventive and daring show to open on the strip in years!”. I can’t help but agree. I laughed so hard (courtesy of Penny Pibbets and the Gazillionaire) that tears ran down my glitter covered face at times! Why did I have glitter on my face? Well I blame the lovely Melody Sweets, but to find out why, you’ll just have to go to the show!

If you like acrobats, dancing girls, rude comedy and nipple tassels, then Absinthe is a must.

Nellis Airforce Base

This one might not be for everyone, but whilst I was in Las Vegas, Aviation Nation was on at Nellis Airforce Base. Nellis is the home of the U.S.A.F Thunderbirds, the US equivalent of the Red Arrows. The air show is a 2 day affair with 80,000 people attending every day. It’s a well run show, plenty to see and do and you certainly won’t go hungry or thirsty!

Many many years ago when I was a kid, my father brought me to see an air show here in Ireland. It was like someone had wound back the years, I was giddy with excitement watching the show, chatting with the pilots and checking out the exhibits. It was a fantastic day out.

One point, don’t do as I did, make sure to bring a hat and some sun block. It gets very hot in the desert!

Machine Gun Vegas

Vegas allows you to do things that you normally don’t get a chance to do here, like shooting big guns… I don’t know of anywhere in Ireland (legal or not) where a member of the public can walk in off the streets and shoot an M249 Saw! After doing some research online before I left Ireland, I settled on Machine Gun Vegas. One afternoon with some time to spare, I picked up the phone and within the hour one of their people carriers was waiting outside to bring me to the range. There are quite a few different packages available, but the SEAL Team 6 Experience package was what I was after. It included the aforementioned M249 Saw, an M4 Assault Riffle, a SPAS-12 Shotgun and a SIG SAUER P226 Pistol.

Gambling

On to the good stuff, the gambling! My game of choice was Blackjack. It’s a simple game with simple rules, score higher than the dealer without going bust. See, it’s simple, I told you!

In reality though, well… it’s not. You have to be disciplined, don’t take extra cards when you don’t need them. There are 4 times as many 10 cards in the deck as any other card, so the chances are higher that you’ll draw a 10 and probably go bust. Let the dealer draw that 10 card and let them go bust.

Anyway, I hit a few casinos over the week, Hooters, the Excalibur, Caesars Palace, the Hard Rock, the Golden Nugget and a locals bar called the Red Label. I’m sure there were others, but I’m damned if I can remember then!

Over all I held my own, in fact I think I might have actually come out slightly ahead courtesy of some good coaching by other gamblers.

Gambling in Vegas is great fun, but you have to be sensible. The casino will always win in the long run. If you manage to get ahead by a decent sum, call it quits for the night and go off and enjoy the winnings. Set yourself a daily limit for gambling and don’t bring your bank card with you! It’s easy to get carried away and increase your stakes to chase your losses. That very rarely works out unfortunately and that’s how the casinos win in the end.

Conclusion

I was once told that 3 days is more than enough in Las Vegas. I beg to differ, I would have stayed another week if I could. I travelled to Vegas on my own, so I had to go out and meet people. I met roadies with stories of excess on the road in the 80s, I met adult movie stars who just wanted to sing karaoke till the early hours of the morning, I met motor racing team owners from Canada who drove non-stop for 24hrs just to see KISS live and I met some great people in some great bars who I’ll probably never meet again!

Vegas, do it, you know you want to!

Tokyo Top 10

Originally published 15/11/2012 on Chunk.ie

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As some of the crew know, I’m just back from a week long trip to Tokyo. They say New York is the city that never sleeps, well compared to Tokyo, New York is comatose! I had planned on writing on my adventures in Tokyo, but then I figured that self incrimination was not the way to go. Instead, you get this Tokyo Top Ten list.

Brozers Burger

Is there a tastier burger in all of Tokyo? I don’t think so! I have no idea how they cook their burgers, but they just melt in your mouth. The best burger I have ever tasted and worth going off the beaten path for.

Tokyo Skytree

What’s 634m tall and towers above Tokyo? No, not Godzilla, its the Tokyo Skytree. It’s the tallest tower in the world and the second tallest structure after Burj Khalifa. You can’t go all the way to the top unfortunately, the highest point visitors can get to is the 450m floor, not too shabby I think you’ll agree, you are almost .5km above Tokyo city! It’s well worth a visit and you truly get a feel for just how big Tokyo is as you look out the observation windows and see the city fade into the distance.

Oh and don’t forget to visit the aquarium at the base of the Skytree too!

Bullet Train

Ever since I was a child I wanted to ride on a bullet train. There is something about the bullet train that captures the imagination… The speed of the train, the look of the train, the way the train banks around a corner at full tilt. If you like speed, take a trip on one of these trains, you won’t regret it.

Uptown Bar, Ginza

Tokyo seems to have more bars in one street than the whole of my home town. There are hundreds, if not thousands of bars throughout the city, some large, some small, some good, some bad… This one just happened to be the bar I visited most often. Good food, good craic, good people. Need I say more?

Shinjuku Robot Restaurant

Are you fed up with normal waiters and waitresses? Is your typical Japanese restaurant too quiet for you? If so, get yourself along to the Shinjuku Robot Restaurant. I’d try to explain, but I’m struggling for words. Take a read of this article on the Daily Mail website, they do a good job of explaining it.

Gonpachi Restaurant

Remember Kill Bill? Remember the scene where the Crazy 88 met their demise in a restaurant? Well that set was actually based on a real restaurant! You’ll be stunned when you slide back the wooden door into the restaurant, it’s like walking into the film, apart from the complete lack of murderous bastards that is… Depending on which review you read, the food and service is either awful or good. At 2am in the morning, both were fine for me.

Kobe Beef

Any steak lover out there will have heard of Kobe Beef. Depending on who you talk to, the cattle are massaged regularly and fed on a quality diet that includes copious amounts of beer. I don’t know and don’t care how they do it. It’s an incredible piece of meat that tastes like angels dancing on your tongue. I paid approx. €115 for a 100g fillet, yes you read that right, but don’t let the price of it put you off, if you are in Tokyo, it’s a must do!

Yodobashi-Akiba

Six floors of high tech goodness. It’s like Toys R’ Us for gadget freaks. Everything and anything you could possibly need from the tech world can be found in this store. Take your time, don’t rush this store otherwise you will end up freaking out and buying nothing, just like I did!!

Yoyogi Park

What a strange place this is… From the Cos play boys and girls near its entrance, to the Rock n Roll Dancers and on to the drummers… You could spend hours just sitting and watching people go by in this park. Think of St. Stephens Green, but larger and without the junkies or the risk of getting mugged. I sat and watched the drummers beat out a rhythm for an hour, a great way to wind down from the night before.

Akiba Cultural Zone

No trip to Tokyo would be complete without a trip to a Manga shop. There are far too many to list, just pop down to Akiba and take a walk around. you’re sure to find something to interest you! Be warned though, the comic books range from the nice happy family stories to the weird world of an octopus with very very strange tentacles!

One major omission from the list is Roppongi, the party area of the city… Think of Temple Bar except louder, ruder and even less safe. I paid a visit one night and couldn’t wait to get out of the place. It just felt dangerous. Too many drunken tourists falling around, packed into bars like sardines in a tin. You can get the Roppongi experience in almost any city anywhere in the world, so why bother with it? On the other hand, if you like bad strip clubs and girls with, and I quote, “Big ass titties, bigger than your head”, then do pay a visit, but be careful with your drink and leave your credit card at home!

So, that’s my Top Ten in no particular order. There is plenty more to see and do in Tokyo obviously. If you can, I’d suggest a visit to a Hostess Bar, its a very interesting experience. Maybe a trip to the New York Grill Bar in the Park Hyatt hotel, or how about having a drink and a chat in one of the many Maid bars scattered throughout Akihabara. Oh and how could I forget the magnificent Imperial Palace, shame on me for that!

Don’t be put off by the language. By all means try and utter some local phrases just out of politeness, but when you get stuck, and you will get stuck, use English. Someone will understand and will be more than happy to try and converse in English with you. Oh and as I found out, try to have a cúpla focal also, it breaks the ice and differentiates you from Americans and British (not that there is anything wrong with being either, but…). One last bit of advice, Tokyo has a lot of steps, a lot!! Bring comfortable, sturdy shoes or boots, you will be doing a lot walking!

I’m looking forward to Round Two with Tokyo, hopefully next year. So much done, so much more to do over there!

Battle for the Burning Lake Festival - Achill

I got invited along to the Battle for the Burning Lake Festival in Achill a couple of weeks ago.  What an amzing weekend it was. 3 days of music and kite surfing in the late September sun.

The video below doesn't the festival justice, but sure take a look anyway.