David Keenan: Dispatches from the Bóthar - Dublin

"You're living the dream....."

What is the dream? I have mine and you have yours and the aperture of the dream like expectations can widen and shift through time.

I was told when I was younger that I'd miss the boat if I didn't write the hit or sing in a different accent etc etc etc. Let me speak to you, the aspiring, no matter what you're doing with your life, we are all aspiring or expiring towards something, there is no singular boat and there is no dream to be living but your own version of that dream today.

Whelan's on the 14th & 15th of April was, from my perspective, dreamlike.

A return to a room like that for multiple nights of Music was something I was relishing, you can let loose and see how things take shape and then get to dive in again on the night after. On the first night I was joined by Imlé who soared and spat As Gaeilge, which I loved, their harmonies and arrangements shining through the Palo Santo'd haze and energy began to build and build around the full room.

I said a quick prayer to whatever God or Goddess or universal spirit of song present to mind my nerves & help me to do the songs justice and it was stage time.

Sing alongs from the start, rain rain go away going around like an insurrection as random "Fuck the fear"s moved about the room and I felt at home. I was joined by Meath multi-instrumentalist Darren Faulkner for these shows, he's a gem and plays like a fella just off a cruise ship where he literally played around the world in eighty tunes, like a roguish explorer, sharp and ready for the Irish endeavour.

I was blown open by the support in the room, a rollercoaster of emotions, the live connection that then spilled out onto Wexford street for 'Subliminal Dublinia' and I half thought I saw a version of myself by the corner, just fresh after moving to Dublin, full of possibility and disbelief at the journey from then to now. Bless the audience, without whom I'd still be on the corner singing and determined but not half as whole as I am today.

Night Two:

When you empty the tank onstage It's important to get some semblance of rest and after managing a few hours sleep through the excitement I wearily visited Fad Saoil Sauna that morning, the extreme hot and cold shook me from a mummified state and next thing we're off!

It's difficult to distill nights like this into a few paragraphs and words are tawdry substitutes at times but I will say that there's a great sense of community that is building around the Music, you can see it in the wide demographic of heads who show up, you perceive it in the sense of soundness in the room and you can hear it in the sing alongs and feel it in the silent moments.

Arabú played a blinder before me, the drum symbols swelling and guitar lines rippled up towards the balcony and I sensed this gig would be a different entity again in its own right.

What followed was a flow from start to finish that had me on my knees in the middle of the room, it can be seen in the photos that brilliantly captured the energy in real time and speaking to people afterwards it was one of those rare nights where things aligned as a fella said.

It was this songwriter's dream to play multiple nights in Whelan's and beyond that, to be in a place where the head and heart are good on and off the stage. I feel capable of being there for those close, myself, and capable of doing the Music justice at the gigs for those who spend hard earned money during times of struggle to come and see me.

So today, yeah, that's more than living the dream!

Note to self: AI can never replicate the unpredictability and pure togetherness of a live gig. Keep the fire lit.

Grá to Ruth, Evan, Mic, Mark, Mary and all the vital crew members, up the Mythological Headers! Dx