blog
| Back in Ireland |
10 Jun 2009 |
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| Well, blink of an eye and I'm back in Dublin. What a mad 7 weeks; still that's what Jeff and I do best "madness" according to some! They had a wheel chair waiting for me in Heathrow. I wasn't sure if that was because of my rep or the fact that I had 2 broken toes! I declined to use it in the end but thank you once again Quantas for being such a fab and considerate airline. The last two shows were such a good vibe, I absolutley loved them and im still grinning over the girl I had to carry off the Fly stage as she refused to get off the riser after the 2nd encore. I think it was pure adrenaline that helped me carry her under my arm and jump off the riser with broken toes, landing on one leg and passing her to Kenny. If anyone has any pics or footage of this I would love it!! I managed to crash a car later that night and Jeff is calling my behavier "pure gold for the future", in other words it's bullets for him!! The Indy bar was just fantastic and I loved every second of the show. It was very very special and a great way to finish our tour of paradise. Australia, how I love you. I have sadly had some bad news of a friend of mine crossing over this afternoon by his own hand, so I post this blog in memory of a gentle and kind man who I never heard say a cruel word. Safe journey MW we will miss you. I will always remember your kindness. I'm heading to Italy this weekend with my wife. Jeff's LA bound and we hook up again in 7 weeks and then Germany/Holland of course.We both have production to complete. BUT we have very, very definite plans for writing as well as a very hectic schedule between now and December. Not at liberty at present to announce dates bar the European ones but it looks as if "paradise" will be revisited sooner than I thought!! Finally thanks to all the wonderful people who supported us on this tour, you are obviously as mad as we are and we thank you for your good vibes, gifts and thoughts. We will be sailing on for many a long voyage yet.Welcome aboard Jay - you are a blessing and the perfect balance for Jeffrey and Moi. So there you go, no more nautical metaphors, no more terrible grammer, poor spelling and over use of exclamation marks (YES I WAS LISTENING )!!!, cross references to former band forumists and school boy humour ....What will you do (not applicable to the affore mentioned non funnys) without my humble ramblings fueled by Australias finest vines .....Lots says you, well splice the mainbrace, walk the plank, keel haul your enemys, press gang all Armada virgins into the fold and we will see you soon .Love to all ....WP |
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| Last two shows in our home Port |
04 Jun 2009 |
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| Hi All shiver me timbers, everyone in Freo is complaining about the "Winter". All I can say is that if I could experience a winter like this every year, I wouldn't want to ever leave Ireland. Kununarra shows were fantastic. In particular the second one where we decided to move the stage outside!! What a vibe! I won't forget it for a long time - such a great audience in such a beautiful place and we weren't too shabby either .....one to always remember. We are in the Fly as we speak, getting back into Rock n Roll mode. Just tuned the Tama drums and I'm happy to say that they deliver everything they promise and more. The Starclassic maple have the timeless sound of drums that I love. They sound of wood and metal, not just glorified sonic triggers that some recently sucessful but now on the wane drum makers produce and they don't write the resonant note of the drum into the shell for you to tune!! They let you find it with heads off and do it yourself, that's what drummers do. Congrats Tama! Meanwhile, Jay is back in the reunited Armada fold and JM and myself are only delighted to have him back. He is a great foil to our "un hinged mania". Some nice suprises in store for the Fly show. We are very pumped up for it. Jeff is in great form and pushing everyone into over drive (I was born in over drive - ask my wife and family!). It's almost sold out, so tomorrow is probabally last chance for tickets .Kenny, Dom and co - our wonderful crew - are once again excelling themselves, between our crew, Jay, manager John and his PA Sarah, Jeff and I are very happy shipmates indeed. We also look forward to seeing all deckhands on show Saturday for duty! There is a strong rumour that we are the special guests on tomorrow nights WAMi awards celebration gig tomorrow night , believe all you hear. NEXT UP Scarborough Indy bar for the now imfamous end of tour gig on Sunday and then back to dear ould Erin for O'shehige (that's me in Irish ) on Monday. The plan is a stretcher from Scarborough into the Quantas lounge .....Time to reap and sow, savage and pillage, raise the cutlass against all foes and join the three of us for some good old kick ass. Rock n Roll Armada style ................ LOVE TO ALL. |
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| Drum workshop Freo |
30 May 2009 |
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| Hi from Broome, mad gig last night! We jammed the songs more than usual and we finished with Jeff just standing singing Save Me with me doing a drum and bass vibe ...interesting. Next Thursday at 4 pm I am doing an open session Drum Work shop in the Fly By Night club, Fremantle. All are welcome, bring drums if you wish, we are supplying some. It should be fun we are expecting a good turnout. Once again, Australia amazes me, how beautiful a place is Broome? Truly it is an incredible. place. My foot is slowly getting a little better and besides the fact we all have flu things are good. We fly to Kununarra today for 2 shows up there. Jeff and I have a soft spot for the Kimberleys; last year we swan in a grotto and had a water python swim between us. We both challenged Micheal Phelps olympic records getting out. We intend to go there again, this time minus The Python I hope. As the Stones would say im pretty beat up! So long you land lubbers, till W/A , and don't be shy about the Drum workshop.....WP |
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| 4 days off in W/A |
26 May 2009 |
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| Hi all, hello from wonderful W/A. Nice to have a few days off, i'ts been pretty hectic over the last few weeks. We really enjoyed the shows and finished off with a very vibey show in Adelaide, which I felt was one of our best duo shows ever - full house, so no complaints. Thank you all for making it so enjoyable. The Aardvark workshop was also a great buzz and I think the kids enjoyed it, I thought they were a great bunch. On the toe front, it's still broken but a least I have a couple of days to let it heal a little before we head to Broome. Jay, Jeff and I will then be looking forward to The Armada gig in Freo. It's always a great night our home gig and then the Indy Bar end of tour extravaganza , which is a unique experience.... and then straight onto a plane to Dublin, probabally poured into the Quantas lounge ... Thanks to all the deckhands who valiantly travelled with us throughout Australia - see you for the last leg. Jay, myself and Jeff promise a fantastic Armada gig in the Fly on the 6th of June! Talk to you soon...WP |
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| Back in Melbourne |
21 May 2009 |
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| Well here we are back in mighty Melbourne. We had an incredible blast in Sydney last night; it was beautifully intense. A great gig and a alot of fun. What a fantastic audience and turn out! JM loved it too, in fact he was still grinning this morning when I left him in Sydney (until tomorrow that is, should any of you "non Armada fans" be drooling with glee, I know very well who you are-sad !! ). Thank you so much A and C for the wonderful Tibetan singing bowl, it was such a thoughtful gift, it will return to Ireland with me.The kids and I will torture our 2 german sheperds with it!!!! (Joke) Simply, thank you, my favourite deckhands. My toe was "trampled underfoot" on the plane toda. I tried to run after the business man with the size 12s but he hid in a cubicle. I'm glad it's not a show day today and that I didn't catch claude hopper. Tomorrow is a busy day for us both. I am facilitating a workshop and production clinic for some children with different levels of illness for The Ardvark foundation. This is a wonderful organisation that helps to fill these childrens lifes with hope and revitalises there self belief and confidence. The drums for this have been supplied by Simon Fraser owner of African drumming.au in St Kilda, the best djembe drum centre and school in the world, bar none!! Only downside is I think they are collecting me at 7am!! Meanwhile Jeffrey is workshopping for his guitar makers -Maton which I gather always turns into a full scale gig... hey guys, I would love a baby Maton?? Please... Once again thank you all for your good vibes, it's nice to meet so many of our friends after shows ..Till later, splice the mainbrace and SHIVER ME TIMBERS ..wp |
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| 3 weeks in... |
19 May 2009 |
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| Hi All , I trust everyone is good and enjoing the journey and those of you travelling with us are having a ball. I would firstly like to sincerley thank everyone who sent kind words over my broken toe and in particular thank those of you who gave me the wonderful gifts of shoes, slippers and thongs (Australian for flip flops!!) - so kind and thoughtful. Also a special thank you to " Bi / Phsyco-pump.". or pimp?(hope i have this correct) for your kind words, our 4 year olds found them absolutley hillarious, four year olds? HEY don't you wish we could all relate and interact like that, congratulations, if THEY are laughing we must be doing something right I guess. Our kids are developing a time machine as well, I can send you the blue print if you want, I suspect it might come in handy. CLICK ON ..Ardaous adequas promontilocus.~*_@!^#&^(++0) Meanwhile, tomorrow night is a sell-out again and it's our last Sydney show for awhile , although it looks as if you are going to see us much sooner than we thought. I can't divulge dates yet but we will be back much sooner than we thought.... All I can add is Armada fans thank you for being the salt of the earth and I hope myself and Jeff will continue to bring some colour into your days over the remaining shows... Much love and respect (me hearties) ...WP |
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| Broken toe |
18 May 2009 |
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| Hi All just to let all of you [know] who find my hopping on and off the stage funny, you will be fed to the fishes if I get my hands on you!! There also seems to be a few versions of how I broke my toe in 2 places: (a) We pulled up at a truck stop and 12 hells angels were harrassing two good looking girls. I ran across the road dispatched all 12 of them into a state of near death with my kung fu/karate/Irish kick boxing and unfortunately when I was walking away one of the Bikers rusty old Harleys fell on my toe (b) My drug abuse is now so bad that I damaged my last remaining point of entry with a blunt needle (c)That I was swimming/body surfing in Byron and got dumped on a sand bank,tried to straighten up and broke my toe! Or finally (d) I got keel hauled by the Armada crew for attempting a mutiny.. . So i guess we can make this a competition a, b, c, d or please feel free to continue realising your inner creativity. … Meanwhile, we are in Newcastle and heading up to Sydney for our day off today. The shows have been going great! I'm looking forward to a night off this evening and then it's The Basement, tuesday. The acoustic set is developing nicely and it's a great mix of Armada, solo album and vintage Tea Party songs. I hope everyone is enjoying it ,we are. Ahoy there Sydney anyone have a "toe truck". WP |
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| Heading out |
13 May 2009 |
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| Hi , thank you all who came to the acoustic show the other night. It was a fantastic contrasting vibe to the electric show and a great turn out (sold out) considering we had played the HiFi club just a day or so before. It was very gratifying indeed. We were backed to the wall time wise, but once again our crew pulled off a production turn around and the show was well recieved. We celebrated a little afterwards; it was nice on that basis to have a real day off today. Jeff headed to the country and I bought dresses for my beautiful daughter! Normal Rock and Roll service will be restored very soon, fear not... I would also like to mention yet again the great support for this tour from Maton guitars, Tama drums, Musiclink, Rode ,Remo, LP, African drumming Melbourne and of course Zildjian cymbals who have been with me for a long time! Thank you all , mines a shiraz.....!! Tomorrows show is in Byron Bay and the set will be different from last nights. Jeff has a very, very old Afghani instrument called a "Rabak" or "Rabad". It's stunning and he hopes to have it working by tomorrow (its over 300 years old!). It was really great for me to play songs like Requiem, Winter Solstice etc as its been 7-8 months since we did a full acoustic show together... lots more of those this month. Our album seems to be gathering momentum very quickly. We have new singles planned and videos aswell. People have been inquiring as regards new matierial, so just to let you know, we have a couple of cool songs already in the bag and intend to write/record more when we return from our European sojourn. I hope to see you all over the next 6 months, in the meantime , Ahoy Australia ..WPX |
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| First Wave |
11 May 2009 |
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| Hi all first 4 shows are done and dusted and I must say I really enjoyed them all. General consensus amongst the majority was that the Sydney show was the best. Personally I think they all had considerable magic (I will endeavour to be more humble about them over the next year). We really enjoyed the vibe and look forward to giving it even more on June the 6th in The Fly By Night Freemantle W/A our home gig....that will be some night. Today was supposed to be our day off, but we spent it doing a film shoot for our next video. Tomorrow we have some new pics taken with Jay and then tomorrow night it's JM and WPS in the Troubador Brisbane for the beginning of our long acoustic tour. We both really dig the contrast between the electric and acoustic shows. I find them challenging because they are even more physical than the band gigs and I have to re-write my parts for my set up . I'm hauled up (docked) in Fortitude Valley Brisbane and I have to remark on how friendly and cool everybody is here! It has a similar resonance to Dublin City in the pre-celtic tiger days. I sincerly hope the people of Brisbane don't buy into the same nonsense that's left us Irish bereft of any values, except the dollar. Just want to acknowledge our amazing crew for there on going good humour and profesionalism - thank you Kenny, Dom, Byron, Evan, Ric and Nic, yes we love you Kenny...... I heard tomorrow night is a sell out, check with the venue. I look forward to meeting new landlubbers, when we weigh anchor and cast off, splicing the main sail, riding the waves across Australia over the next 3 weeks. If by the way anyone has any more good nautical metaphors, I am eagerly awaiting avast the great ocean of knowledge....WP P:S.: Some (back)stage,rehearsal and live photos by Naomi Craike:      |
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| One down |
08 May 2009 |
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| Hi from the soundcheck inWoolongong NSW. JM is busy plugging in "Starship Enterprise" his effects pedals and working on the layout. Jesus its loud!! Really enjoyed last nights gig - great crowd, great vibe, thank you all for making it. JM now has the Therimin going, it really is Startrek and Kenny is keeping it all together. God bless him !! |
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| 2 days to go |
04 May 2009 |
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| Two days to go before we fly to Melbourne. Still pretty nuts here, between rehearsing and promotion, the crew all look like members of Davy Jones crew (circa -Pirates of the Carribean) we are of course as suave as ever!! Had my first swim today, got dumped by a large wave, no sharks in Scarborough. Very warm indeed compared to the freezing but wonderful Irish North Atlantic . Running matierial old and new, we haven't called it on the set list yet. I know you would all love to know but that takes half the mystery out of it, just suffice to say, friends old and new won't be dissapointed. Saw an amazing Perth based Aboriginal band 2 nights ago called "Moanna Dreaming"- great voices, good songs, also ended up having a W/A type night out with some of them and some friends , dangerous... Dying to get on the road now, as a band we thrive on the cut and thrust of gigging more than most bands I know, probably why we don't like rehearsing. On that note let me be crystal clear: even though we don't like rehearsing we do rehearse hard.....honestly. For now thats it from Freemantle W/A. |
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| First rehearsal |
01 May 2009 |
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| 1st May here today and I think it's a Friday? Haven't had a swim yet
this time. Got a bit intimidated by the recent shark attack on South
Beach. Usually I swim every day - will build up my courage first! Our new ship mate Jay Cortez is an absolutley great musician and we played Morrocco first song yesterday; it was hard for Jeff and I to contain our grins, what a musician! We are working on our set and we will have a few suprises for old and new fans. It's really cool rehearsing this new line up and I am enjoying it imensely. Quite something for me to enjoy rehearsals! The Armada family - John, Sarah, Kenny, Dom and Byron - are running around like mad things getting everything ship shape for us, the focus at the moment is on the electric ARMADA shows, next week JM and myself will work up the acoustic set, which will also be a blast....Talk soon...Adios amigos |
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| Getting started... |
01 May 2009 |
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| Here we are all safely tucked up back in Freemantle West Australia. Our
new arrivals settling in wonderfully well. JM arrived last night from
Canada and is in great form. I slept like a baby last night, so
hopefully that's the end of my jet lag ... We have set up 'Armada TV' as of this weekend we will be downloading little snippets of life with The Armada over the next few weeks, for those of you who are interested. Tama Australia have come on board, and I have got to say, I am blown away by their drums (for those of you who play drums, Star classic, absolutley fab. I have been requested to do a daily blog !! I have agreed to do a 72 hour blog instead. I will do my ut-most to make them a little more interesting than this one! We are all looking forward to the shows and putting a few suprises in there ..more later , love and kisses WP |
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| Here we come... |
01 May 2009 |
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 Well just a week to go before we start rehearsals in Western Australia. Apart from West Cork I it’s my favourite place on the planet, so hardly a chore.......We will be rehearsing both the Armada (complete with our new guest bass player, gentleman and scholar Jay Cortez) and our new acoustic show as we didn’t rehearse in Cork - I had to go to Germany and Jeff had to go to Canada. Jeff and I- will hook up in W/A. Anyone in the vicinity please be aware! We haven’t hung out for a few weeks, so no promises on the behavior front!! In fact if you see us out and about I suggest you keep walking!! Tama drums have come aboard the good ship Armada and I welcome them wholeheartedly and look forward to sailing many adventures together. Lots going on with press and promotions, really looking forward to the shows, all of them, please come say hi. We are always happy to meet new people and catch up with old friends! This month is all about The Armada and the acoustic shows will also be reflecting this. A fabulous challenge to Jeff and myself to play these songs with our acoustic set up. I said this to a friend in Norway last night and he laughed and said "Quit the bullshit, you know your acoustic shows are so big, you make the WHO sound like Simon and Garfunkel"!! So on that note, I send light from Ireland and look forward to seeing friends old and new over the coming 6 weeks ...Wayne P Sheehy xxxxxxx |
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