Cosmonauts also walk their Dogs

Train from Prague to Olomouc, September 23rd, 2024

Israel and Hezbollah. Election polls. Gaza. Sudan. Climate change. There’s so much news. Reading it from Central Europe, itself so rich in relatively recent catastrophic history, adds an onimous lining to the already cloudy horizon.

Where did I leave you?Ah yes, Munich right before Oktoberfest. I played another Munich gig at Gans Woanders on Friday night. Very cool space, delicious pizza and extremely friendly staff. Sound again a bit challenging. Mostly thanks to a couple of city center neighbours who don’t like noise resulting in fact that music has to be kept at a challengingly low level in this really magical outdoor space. I’ve come across this almost everywhere and it  continues to baffle me. I don’t like noise either but I’ve little sympathy for people who move to a city center next to music venue and then complain about noise. (I’m looking at you Lower East Side whiners.) In no known universe is my solo set louder than the everyday city soundscape.

Anyway, anyway, anyway,  the place itself is really cool, like something from a fairy tale. A ship? A treehouse? I don’t know, go have a look sometime. I must thank Antonio for essentially giving me his gig and opening for me on the night. Together we had a full house.

The next morning I paid a quick visit to Oktoberfest opening ceremony with Paul Solecki and Swiss man who used to live in Cork and now lives in Munich, Laurent.

We had another great coffee at the lost weekend cafe and I boarded the train to Prague.

I spent a lot of time in Prague in my late 20’s, especially when I was part of the Voice and Verse and we appeared at Prague Fringe Festival many times. These were mad, mischievous and hopefully musical times wandering round Europe with poets and singers. I’ve been back for several one off gigs since but this was my first return since I think 2018. I dropped my bags off and spent a few hours literally and figuratively walking down memory lane.

I played a very nice gig at Kavarna Liberal. When I arrived downstairs in the venue part of the building a polite young man informed me I was interrupting an improv class. “Well, I think you’re supposed to just keep going then, no?”

I very much enjoyed meeting the owner Jakub. He asked me to come outside to take a photo by the sign. As he was taking the photo someone was walking by with their dog and walked right in front. Another someone alerted Jakub, “hey, that’s gonna be a great photo, that was Vladimir Remek”  He flew aboard the Soyuz 28 in 1978, and in doing so became the first and only Czech man in space.

Sorry for the accidental paparazzi moment Mr. Remek. This is the closest this spacer has got to a real life cosmonaut.

Tangential, in 1980s Ireland my grandmother had a dog named Sputnik. I never thought that was  unusual till right now.

My old friends Cormac and Zuz and American expat extraordinaire, Ken Nash were in attendance and it was great to catch up with them.

Olomouc to Prague train, September 24th, 2024

Olomouc is such a beautiful and vibrant city. It really is amongst my favourite smaller cities to visit and play. This concert was put together with very short notice by my friends David Livingstone and Matthew Sweney. It as perhaps my 4th or 5th time playing in Olomouc but my first time play Blues Bar Garch. What a cool spot. Really timeless, stone cellar, feel to the place. The gig was packed so much so that some people had to sit on the stage. I had some requests for songs from Dream Your Way Out of This One and Sound from people who had seen me on previous tours.

I stayed in an extremely cheap and clean (and small) hotel room ten mins from both the train station and the gig. Never before have I felt so physically healthy so far into a tour! Must be the new hiking shoes.

I just had two fast coffees by the train station with Vienna based Dublin photographer Patrick Cassidy. We met a fella called Pete, originally from Abbeyleix via London via Olomouc, now living in the mountains somewhere outside of town. He said he had never before heard another Irish accent in Olomouc. I apologised for bringing that peaceful run to an end. He and his friends were refurbishing an old brewery building in the countryside. He’d come down from the mountain to see the dentist.

The woman across from me on the train asked me if I am famous.

If you have to ask, the answer’s probably no.

London tomorrow, then Bandon, then back to NYC.