Craic On

DYLAN FEST 2014 - MOVILLE (IRELAND)

Hello Tambourine , some time ago you asked me to write an account of the " Dylan Fest 2014" which took place in Moville (Ireland) August 21 to 24 last year, I only do it now and hope to be forgiven for being late due to a motivation for me very important : After 28 years I moved house , from building a house , then sea change , but here I finally I have my basement where they can play freely and I am currently finishing equip .

Despite the transfer of the house that would come close to the back , I decided , however , this year , to be present at what is considered one of the most important musical events dedicated to the Master, his music , his poetry, all in a very special atmosphere and impressive as that of the far north of Ireland, in the county of Donegal, and its pubs , which are always attended by people full of warmth, drinking good beer and "eat" music.

We arrived at night in Belfast ( departing from Cagliari, via London ) and we stopped at the hotel to return to the path in the morning by bus which takes us up to Londonderry ( Derry for the Irish !) we arrive at Moville for the lunch hour and , given the experience of the previous edition , we head straight to Rose 's, where, however, I would have played the same evening , inaugurating the festival.

The wait is as exciting as ever , the place has been renovated a bit from last year, a little more space , but only for the customers , who plays , unfortunately, needs to carve out a little corner to accommodate mixers, microphone , lectern and tools, the speakers have changed places and feel abnormally hard to even place the camera for shooting ; some new techniques to try, such as small monitor speakers microphone on the rod , it is hoped that they are effective to be able to hear distinctly the foundations that run on the laptop ( for the record the basis that I use are entirely made by myself and not downloaded from Internet ), connected to the mixer with a powerful external sound card.

The evening begins in the purest style dylaniano of recent times, with the intro of acoustic guitar before the latest version of " Things Have Changed " .

Below the set-list for this first evening:

Things Have Changed
 When The Deal Goes Down
 Masters Of War
 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
 Girl From The North Country
 Beyond Here Lies Nothing 
 Senor
 Ballad Of A Thin Man 
 Mr. Tambourine Man 
 Pay In Blood 
 Soon After Midnight
 Scarlet Town
 One More Cup Of Coffee
 Isis
 As I Went Out One Morning
 To Ramona 
 Just Like A Woman
 Shooting Star
 Love Minus Zero
 All Along The Watchtower
 My Back Pages
 It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
 Like A Rolling Stone
 Visions Of Johanna (su richiesta)
 I Shall Be Released
 
 encore 
 The Lonesome Death Of H.C.
 Blowing In The Wind

Needless to say, the enthusiasm that has been unleashed on " Like A Rolling Stone ", but also on many other songs , it was thrilling as well as the final applause of those present who remained until the end.

The evening is also Robert Harrison (weird random mix of Robert Allen Zimmerman and George Harrison ) , aka Bobby Does Dylan, Scottish musician and singer who has had the good fortune to meet Bob in person , in a recent European tour , and it was immediately established a mutual sympathy .

A little different the evening of the following day , at the Redcastle Hotel, we've encountered all the limitations of an organization that has been wearing out over the years , especially the last , and which I will discuss later ; has not been provided any transportation to the destination location , but fortunately there is a way.

The " stage " (so to speak ... ) is provided in the lobby near the bar , and I'm lucky to find the staff working there , people were very helpful ; I provide the mixer and microphones, even if there is no music stand ... Needless to say, the organizer of the festival has not even seen for 5 minutes, anyway it goes . At the end of soundcheck , when everything seemed fine , the mixer stops working. Panic !

Luckily the hotel staff unable to solve another mixer , but only has 2 channels and has difficulty interacting with the speakers ; I assist my sound card that has some cannon and jack inputs and all is fine.

Few present and not so much fans , as it might have had to wait , so very different situation , especially when compared to the pubs of Moville , the atmosphere is cold , far from heat received the previous evening ; below the set list for the second evening:

Things Have Changed 
 When The Deal Goes Down 
 Senor 
 Beyond Here Lies Nothing 
 Shelter From The Storm 
 Pay In Blood 
 Soon After Midnight 
 Don’t Think Twice 
 Masters Of War 
 To Ramona 
 Love Minus Zero / No Limits 
 Just Like A Woman 
 Ballad Of A Thin Man 
 As I Went Out One Morning 
 Shooting star 
 My Back Pages 
 One More Cup Of Coffee 
 Abandoned Love 
 You’re A Big Girl Now 
 All Along The Watchtower 
 It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue 
 Like A Rolling Stone 
 Blowing In The Wind

To return to Moville we are forced to call a taxi , then refunded by the organizer; it is night and there's just us around the small village of Donegal ... fresh air, a little rain and a lot of silence , the perfect atmosphere that makes up for all the mishaps and uncertainties that have accompanied us during these hours .

The third night , that Saturday is always considered as an unknown , the only thing certain is that Rose 's will be filled up to capacity and people playing in those conditions in that space so cramped it really is a business, as well as be able to hear the bases from the speakers spy microphone placed on the rod , not to mention the coffers of local (hopefully next year things will be better ) ; the nice thing is the energy that comes from the people who are sitting there, waiting with trepidation the beginning of the evening and then to find out as what will be the next song .

It will also be the longest night , as usual , on a Saturday night you arrive safely until almost 3 am and you go to sleep at dawn ; the satisfaction that comes from full awareness of being born in the midst of people extraordinarily friendly character and who are there to listen to the music , emotions , sing along with you, the whole song or just a few pieces , but feels that their hearts are all in one direction and that you are to lead the march .

Also this evening begins with the intro of acoustic guitar, what Stu Kimball playing in complete darkness at the beginning of the concerts of Bob and suspense that creates the right , and then explode into sound and light as we know it ; here there are no lighting effects , but the attack music is highly effective and involves the present.

The set list for this evening is at least 34 songs, almost without pause , if not what is the highly acclaimed encore ; are about 3 and a half hours in which emotions are treated and chase , song by song , the chorus out loud "Just Like A Woman " and " Like a Rolling Stone" to tears of those who are moved to " If You See her Say hello " and" Queen Jane Approximately " both performed on request.

In particular the last .... I have to say that is something to see a large man crying like a baby in thank me for it has been made for him because it has a special meaning ; are things that stay with you and make you really understand that there are still those who feel the music in your blood and that those words , those that Bob has written over the course of his extraordinary career , they always have a strong value for each of the beyond individual personal interpretation.

Here, the set-list of Saturday evening :

Things Have Changed
 When The Deal Goes Down
 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
 A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
 Love Sick
 What Was It You Wanted
 Shelter From The Storm
 Beyond Here Lies Nothing 
 Senor
 Tell Ol' Bill
 Ballad Of A Thin Man 
 Mr. Tambourine Man 
 Pay In Blood 
 Soon After Midnight
 Scarlet Town
 Hurricane
 One More Cup Of Coffee
 Oh Sister
 Isis
 As I Went Out One Morning
 To Ramona 
 Just Like A Woman
 Shooting Star
 Love Minus Zero
 Forgetful Heart
 All Along The Watchtower
 You're A Big Girl Now
 My Back Pages
 It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
 If You See Her Say Hallo (su richiesta)
 Like A Rolling Stone
 
 encore 
 Queen Jane Approximately (su richiesta)
 Blowing In The Wind
 
Big smiles, tears of emotion, pats on the back before parting, clapping and singing voices, the image of one who raises his glass of Guinness in triumph and happiness ... it's still all there in front of the eyes and ears even after you look out in the silence of the night the Irish outside the front door of Rose's, when the only sound echoing in the street wet is your shoes stomping the sidewalk, a few steps to get to the B & B where we are staying, but in those few steps is enclosed all the poetry of these unforgettable moments.
 
Sunday does not provide my evening, but there is still some opportunity to rattle off some songs and to share emotions with other musicians come here from different places and distant.
 
Just out of Maguire's be playing some songs, in turn, with the guitar that passes from hand to hand, each song just to say "I am here"; when you run "Maggie's Farm" are often quite clearly some dissatisfaction with the organization of the festival, as people become present in the choir "is not gonna work for Gerry's Farm no more", for the record, Gerry McLaughlin is the organizer of Dylan Fest since 2007.
 
It is said that the first love is never forgotten and in this case I think it is absolutely true in the sense that the issue better than I remember it is the first that I had the good fortune and pleasure to take part, or in 2010 (for those who want to read something about you can access this page:

 http://www.al-diesan.it/html/DylanFest2010.htm), in the succession of years the organization's quality has deteriorated and the presence of Gerry is very limiting, technical assistance zero, all is for the more under the responsibility of the managers of the premises where it is played and the musicians who perform.
 
Too bad, because the Dylan Fest in Moville is a heritage not be lost, to be protected, one of those few occasions where it is played with great pleasure the music of Bob Dylan and where you can breathe in the deep atmosphere Dylan; hope it is just a temporary situation and that future editions will return to be at a higher level and that the system may also have the attention it deserves and that perhaps has not had.
 Arrive in the evening and there are two situations in which I can be hosted on the stage; The first is to Caiseal Mara Hotel where Bobby Does Dylan performs with his entire amplification apparatus that looks really that big concert, definitely oversized for the job in question; 4 songs performed, with the last set, with great emotion each other:
 
Girl From The North Country
 With God On Our Side
 I'll Remember You
 Mr. Tambourine Man

 Bobby is truly an amazing person, deeply friendly, there is mutual respect and admiration, it is perceived very clearly, we promise to do something together, perhaps in Scotland next year .... we'll see!
 
The economic storm is favorable in the sense that the show Robert Harrison (Bobby Does Dylan) is in the early evening while Jacques Mees, my dear friend from Holland, performs at Rose's in the late evening; this allows me to be present there, especially for healthy, with a few songs, all the faithful of the local Malin Road, which I have heard in previous days (Thursday and Saturday). Even here 4 songs, all performed with Jacques, with lots of fun and satisfaction:

I Shall Be Released
 With God On Our Side
 I'll Remember You
 Like A Rolling Stone

We have come to an end, the four days of the "Dylan Fest 2014" have been challenging, but, as always, full of satisfaction with the emotions experienced and absorbed, unfortunately this time passed too quickly ... it would be really nice being able to stop and enjoy also the natural landscapes of this beautiful part of the island of Ireland; for those who make music then, regardless of whether you do it professionally or for fun, play here is, and remains, one of the most moving experiences and meaningful, something you'd almost transform into a tattoo affect on the skin and in the mind, so it stays forever, and every time I change my mind you will always find different nuances that renew the emotions on the spot.

 We welcome Moville in the early hours of the morning, the other two flights will bring us back home, but a piece of his heart remains here, while the typical drizzle Irish plays this day in late August and already the mind goes straight to the next year, imagining other emotions, More applause, the usual group of friends to meet again with the usual smiling face and the same warmth that every heart is capable of generating.
 
Until next year ... in the name of Bob!

 At Diesan

 Dear Al, it's really a shame that the organization was on the run, perhaps this happens because the promoters had expected more from the previous editions in terms of resonance. When an organizer is absent in full means that no longer has any intereresse in what organized, and this, beyond the great satisfaction that gives you the locals with their enthusiasm, it's pretty sad (of course for the organizer ). We should live there to understand why this behavior seems to be a true nonsense! Paziena, the important thing is the people, who with their warmth and their fans cheering you feel that you have not made a similar trip for nothing. No wonder your skills in proposing the songs of our Irish people always leave open-mouthed, but what do you want, unfortunately Al Diesan in the world there are not many! : o). I would have loved to be there too, but my board does not allow me more adventures of this kind. I still remember with great pleasure that incredible night in Feldkirch in Austria after the show at the Theatre Montforthaus with you, Frank Pino Tocco and the Blackstones we get into a bar full of punk-punk-boys ridges with orange, cobalt blue and emerald green! After ten minutes, the music had changed, it was enough to show off your guitar and that of the local pine had become suddenly silent amazement and curiosity. After five minutes a perfect bar-punk-punk with its customers singing along with four Italian losers, no one knows as happened in that room, all the songs of Bob Dylan's beating time with plates, glasses, cups, knives and forks and everything 'another. The evening went on until 04 in the morning, when a patrol of Police came in asking if we were going home alone and had to take them, because our eyes betrayed the amount of grappling hooks that made us amazing punk-customers arrive every five minutes at our table. How to forget a night like this? One of the best memories that I guard jealously in my heart! Thank you for the review and of course you can I book the next year. A big hug to you, Mr.Tambourine,