The Limerick gig was excellent, they came on at about 11:00 PM and played a seemless set. The Audience were a mainly local crowd + me and two guys from Rotterdam who came over specially for the gig - Respect! The crowd were up for enjoying themselves, so the Band didn't have to struggle to get them going, unlike Galway and Cork. The new songs now blend in perfectly to the set. I'll try to get my thoughts together to write a more complete description once I have recovered.

See www.irishnews.com then music and Christmas Kicks. Sounds as if you all had a great time here. Looking forward to next Friday night.

My ticket arrived for Ocean this morning, only for me to get on here for the bad news... still Dublin...

It was great to meet you all again in Dublin. Its been a tough year at work so seems to get increasingly difficult to relax. There's nothing like an Undertones gig to forget about everything else. I'll leave the review to the professional and the track listing to Jackie who grabbed the official version. The night was summed up for me by Teenage Kicks. Predictable you might say but what could be better than jumping/pogoing and signing/shouting along to the perfect song with 100s of others who feel the same. Even a guy who was next to me shouted across to his mate - 'now are you glad you came here instead of going to see The Pogues' (who I later discovered were also in Dublin that night). His answer was clear from the fact his voice was going after the 'signing' along. Have a great Christmas everyone, thanks for the 'presents' Cliff and George. Sounds like 4 nights in a row was well worth it Henry - I think that's a record isn't it Cliff...

BTW The Hot Press Hall of Fame in Dublin is closed down...but a pint of guinness at the top of the Gunniess Storehouse looking over Dublin made for a good Friday lunchtime. I agree with you George a couple of hours shopping was more than enough for me...

Almost recovered from 2 superb days. A quick summary and review as Cliff was looking very knackered last time i saw him. Myself, John and George arrived in Dublin 25 minutes ahead of time which isnt bad for a 1 hour flight. Met up with Lindsay, Alistair,Liam (Wilke) and Derek. Alistair + George shared the driving -large applause for them. The mini bus was decorated with lobsters which Derek swore he drew but I think some 10 year old children must have been involved somewhere along the line-you'll see the pics later.Journey flew by with the help of my brilliant tape which cunningly had every second song an Undertones one so I wouldn't be ejected out of the window...

On the bus -the only thing dirtier than John's jokes was Wilke's laugh.Met up with too many people to mention at the venue at Cork.The audience seemed a bit reserved at first but soon got into the swing of things and by half way through everyone was getting right into it. Paul worked the audience up a treat and is really a superb frontman. 'Jimmy Jimmy, YGMN opened -Cliff will be able to supply a full setlist as he removed one after the Dublin show along with the planks it was attached to,the towels, the bottles on stage,and a guitar or two(maybe that was why the band started Get Over You in Dublin without noticing that Damian didnt have his guitar ).

Just arrived back from Dub, was that good or what?? Where did you all go? Me and wee Brian got in the bar and got some great photos of the band and me. Billy is possibly the nicest person I've ever met. They all took time to chat and pose and now my life is complete. Good to meet you all too. Going to go for a pint now and tell anyone that'll listen about the gig. Cheers Merry Xmas.

The last posting has been eaten by the Cmos machine. It should appear later?

C'mon guys - lets have a full report for all us poor sods who didn't get there.

The last posting (and the only one of any relevance) that got eaten is all about the new songs but I havent got time to rewrite it now.I obviously got carried away and it was too long to post.

The London gig isn't cancelled, it's postponed (which means it may happen at a later date). Don't get too despondent just yet!

I really have missed something in Dublin, am very anxious to hear those new songs, I would like to wish you all a very merry christmas and thanks for your firendship over the past year. I am probabpy the only one who thinks the postponement of the London gig is good news, the delay might mean I can make it eventually!!! Henry, do you the names of those Dutchmen in Limerick?? Vinny might be interested to know them too!

Tonight the Moondogs played Belfast, anyone went there?????

Alex, how the hell did you manage to get in the bar after???? We were thrown out like dirty dish water.

TUESDAY 18th December.....Got to work at 8am, went thru the motions then off to Stansted at 1.30.No loud music this time as I couldn't take my own car and Dad wouldn't appreciate the noise.Flight delayed by an hour and a half, bad news as time would be tight at the other end.Arrived Dublin at 7PM and in the hire car at 7.45,destination Galway.20 minutes later I found myself in a residential road on the outskirts of Dublin and now the swearing starts along with the knot in my stomach, would I make it in time? I drive back to the airport and there it is, the holy grail....N2, N3, N4 GALWAY!! Hallelujah, now I cant go wrong.Its a long old drive though, dual carriageways followed by country roads all the way.

Hallelujah, now I cant go wrong.Its a long old drive though, dual carriageways followed by country roads all the way.I turn on the radio, its 'Today FM', ah this is Paul's(VTU)station.I didn't realise I'd get it this far from Dublin.Suddenly an advert came on starting with 'TK', then 'Get over you' and so on but with Paul singing, its an advert for the Dublin gig.Nearly in Galway now, it's almost 11pm but atleast I'm gonna make it.I drive along the sea front and there it is, The Warwick Hotel, great!! But frankly I'm absolutely knackered as the journey by car took a lot of concentration.I'm shown inside by the stage manager who is trying to help me with the banner but theres nowhere on stage to put it so we decide to leave it.

Henry arrives with his female host, she comments 'I thought you'd be a sad annorak but you seem quite normal' (eh, thank's) 'Actually you're quite cute' (actually your not bad yourself but I'm married and here to see The Undertones.Honestly the things some people will say to get their hands on my banner).The Venue is fine, approx 500 capacity I would guess but not that many inside, about 350/400 would be my guess.It's always a bad sign when the band have taken the stage (12.15am!)and you don't even know it, it was that sort of crowd, curious rather than actual fans it seemed.Theres a huge gap at the front and unlike Belfast in the summer I'm not gonna fill it on my own, not this time.I'm not gonna run through the set but the sound was perfect, almost to good to be true, were they miming?? With the sound as good as this it was the perfect opportunity to listen to the new songs and they sounded great...all of 'em.

Paul was telling the crowd to get closer and little by little they did, now half way through the set the place was coming alive and people were letting their hair down.As per usual Billy bashed away with concentration etched all over his face, John, Damian and Mickey worked like trojans on them guitars and Paul is supremely confident now.The crowd had been won over by the sheer class and persistance of the band, it was great to see, but no surprise if truth be told. At the Dublin gig a couple of days later I met Enda Casey who had also been at Galway.A friend of his who had never seen the 'tones before commented that they were 'tighter than a ducks ass'.Beautifully put.

Cliff, having met me I'm sure you understand it was a mixture of style, good looks and that certain Glaswegian charm!! Mibbee not, wee Brian just asked and we bullshitted from there. Got a belter of a pic with D pointing at my(your)t-shirt If anyone wants to see them let me know. I got a poster the next morning (afternoon possibly), and apparantely just missed someone asking for the same. Was it one of you????