Magical Mystery Tour

Last night, Eli and I went to a pub in Dun Laoghaire called Walter's.  This was a trip more than nine months in the making.  Intrigued?  Read on.

About a year ago, we saw that there was going to be a concert performed by a Beatles tribute band, Let It Be-atles, at The Lighthouse pub in Dun Laoghaire.  Eli loves The Beatles and the tickets were cheap (about €22 each) so we bought two tickets for a show that was to be held in January.  And then it got moved to June.  And then it got moved to September.  And then the venue changed from The Lighthouse to Walter's.

It finally stayed in one place and on one date, so we were off.  But of course, a tale of our adventures wouldn't be complete without some kind of transportation issue.

Bus 7 was leaving from the Brides Glen stop at 5 p.m.  We had planned to eat dinner at Walter's and had reserved a table for 5:30 p.m.  We hiked down to the LUAS tram platform, and the electronic board stated that our tram was due in 8 minutes.  No problem - we had allowed ourselves some extra time to ensure we'd be at the bus stop before 5.

Typically, as the tram nears its stop, that number on the board starts to reduce.  Our number stayed a solid 8.  Eli checked the online transport site, and it said the next tram wasn't due to arrive until 5:02 - which was a couple minutes after our bus would've departed.

Sigh.

So Eli ordered a taxi and tracked its location.  It wound up somewhere across the road and down the hill from the tram platform, but we eventually located it and were on our way.  It was a bit aggravating to see that Bus 7 (the one we would've been on) was a few cars ahead of us as we approached our destination.

The traffic light on our Dun Laoghaire street reminded me of the stop lights at the crossing roads on Highway 169 (before the redesign) - it stayed green for all of four seconds, so we weren't moving much at all.  Our taxi driver finally turned to us and asked if we wanted to get out at that point.  The pub was just around the corner about a block away so it would've been stupid for us to sit in traffic with the fare meter running.  I thought it was very kind of him to offer that suggestion as it meant a little less money for him.

We walked into Walter's at 5:29 p.m. and were quickly seated.  Eli ordered pasta arrabiata and an appetizer of garlic mushrooms; I asked for bangers and mash (aka sausages and mashed potatoes).

As we waited for our food, we were regaled by the musical stylings of a duo tucked into a corner at the front of the pub - one guy on keyboards, the other one on vocals.  They performed a few tunes - "Night and Day," "The Lady is a Tramp," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," "Blueberry Hill," and "Hit the Road, Jack" to name a few.  I kept hoping they'd perform "Blue Moon" or "Someone to Watch Over Me" but it never came to pass.

It was nice to have something to partially drown out the conversation of the table next to us, as they were talking about the orange demon.  I said to Eli, "Really?  I came here to get away from that crap."

Our food arrived, and we tucked in.  I have to say that my meal was quite....meh.  Neither the sausage nor the potatoes had much flavor to them, and the slightly watery gravy didn't do a lot to improve things.  It wasn't awful - just bland and not worth €20 for sure.

It took about 30 minutes - and having to ask multiple times - for us to receive our check.  I told Eli that we could just up and walk away, and they probably would never even notice.  We didn't do that, of course.  And honestly, the wait was fine.  Since our food got to the table relatively quickly, we had a lot of time to kill between the end of the meal and being able to get into the music venue at 7 p.m.

After the check was paid, we didn't want to sit there and take up a table so we walked outside, finding the bus stop we needed to be at for the trip home before heading back into the pub and up the stairs to the second floor.

Eli showed our electronic tickets to the gatekeeper, and another person put an inked stamp on our hand to show we were allowed to be there (and I imagine for re-entry if we needed to go downstairs for any reason).  Getting the stamp reminded me of this exchange on "The Big Bang Theory":

Sheldon:  Look at this stamp.  On what authority are they permitted to mutilate patrons as they enter?
Amy:  I'm sure it'll wash off.

Sheldon:  Little comfort tonight.  I look like a Hell's Angel.

Eli had checked with the venue regarding the concert set-up.  I knew I wouldn't be able to stand for 2 hours, so I wanted to know if there would be seats available.  Eli received a response that there wouldn't be any seating and the area in front of the stage would be an open dance floor.  However, there were chairs and tables in the bar area (which still had a view to the stage), and we got there early enough to snag a table.

We sat and watched as the bar began to fill up.  I told Eli I was surprised by the number of older people (65+) that were there; he said he was more surprised by the number of young people who were attending.

He grabbed a Rockshore Apple Cider, and we settled in to wait.  And wait.  And wait.

The show was scheduled to begin at 7:30; the start time was closer to 8.

Earlier, I had asked Eli what he thought their first song would be.  He said "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and I said "Hard Day's Night."  While I was writing down notes from the evening before the show started, I said, "Did you say the first song would be 'She Loves You'?" and he corrected me.

And their first song was...."She Loves You."  😄  And here's the remainder of their set list, in performance order:

2.  I Wanna Hold Your Hand (ooooh, Eli - so close)

3.  All My Loving

4.  From Me to You

5.  Love Me Do

6.  This Boy

7.  I Should've Known Better

8.  8 Days a Week

9.  Hard Day's Night

10. Can't Buy Me Love

11. Help!

12. I Feel Fine

13. Nowhere Man

14.  Please Please Me

15. Ticket to Ride

16. Day Tripper

17. Paperback Writer

18. All You Need is Love

19. Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

20. With a Little Help from My Friends

21. Drive My Car

22. We Can Work It Out

23. Here Comes the Sun

24. Something

25. Let It Be

26. Come Together

27. Hello, Goodbye

28. Penny Lane

29. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

30. Ballad of John and Yoko

31. Don't Let Me Down

32. Get Back

33. I Saw Her Standing There

34. Twist and Shout

35. Yellow Submarine

36. Hey Jude

37. Sgt Pepper's Reprise

The members of the band looked and sounded nothing like The Beatles, nor do I think that was their intent.  I appreciated that because when a tribute band does a poor imitation, it detracts from the enjoyment of the performance for me.

They were all musically talented, however.  I was enjoying watching the bass player.  My dad played bass in a band with his brothers, and one of my all-time favorite bass lines is from Paul McCartney.  (Here's that bass line in tutorial form - the guy in the video brings my dad to mind because that's a shirt my dad would have totally worn:  Paul McCartney & Wings - Goodnight Tonight Bass Cover )

It was enjoyable to watch the crowd.  Some of those older people were really shaking it!  One silver-haired guy had his hands in the air like he just didn't care.  But bless his heart, the movements of said hands had very little to do with the beat of the music so that was making me giggle.  One lady dancing reminded me of that girl in the Peanuts dance scene who just kinda throws her head back and forth:

We were right next to the bar, and a LOT of liquor was changing hands all night.  I found it interesting that the volume of singing and the numbers of dancers increased as the alcohol consumption increased.  Coincidence?

Once the concert ended, we went back out into the night and walked up the street to our bus stop.  Bus 7 was due in about 10 minutes.  And if you believe that, I have some oceanfront property in Minnesota to sell you.

Eli checked the transit site online.  Bus 7 had vanished (because of course it did), but Bus 7A was due to arrive in about 10 minutes.  And Bus 7A actually did show up, wonder of wonders.

The only issue is that Bus 7A wouldn't take us to the Brides Glen stop, so we'd have to de-bus and get Bus 111.  We rode a little way and then got off at a dark, middle-of-nowhere stop (it really wasn't in the middle of nowhere - the main drag road was a block or two away - but it sure felt like it that late at night).  We crossed the street to await Bus 111.  Eli again checked the transit site, and Bus 111 was supposed to arrive in 10 minutes....or later.

I was like, "Screw this."  We had no assurance that Bus 111 would appear in 10 minutes.  I had a sinking suspicion that we'd stand there for 10 minutes, only to discover Bus 111 had also gone into the Bermuda Triangle of buses.

It was quite a hike back to the Brides Glen LUAS stop (nearly a mile) but eventually, we were sitting on the tram, ready for the trip back home.

As we waited for the tram to get underway, I said to Eli, "I'm glad you had a good time."  He said, "I did.  Didn't you?"

My experience wasn't unpleasant.  It was just....meh.  I appreciate many of The Beatles' songs, but they aren't a favorite group of mine.  Would it have been different if it had a been a tribute band for Michael Bolton, Billy Joel, or Elton John?  Or do I really just not enjoy live musical performances anymore?  I have never really been Concert Girl - I can probably count on one hand the number of concerts I've gone to.

Quite frankly, I favored the more intimate experience of the two guys who were playing during our meal, and I think I'd probably feel the same if we went to a pub that had a traditional small group playing in a corner.  Even so, I was grateful to hear that Eli enjoyed the show since he's the big Beatles fan.

We finally walked in the front door around 11:30 p.m.  The cats, who are usually fed around 10 p.m., were not amused.