Ok... maybe hell was a bit strong of a word; after all it was Hawaii, right?
But the events which occurred during the Mollys Revenge 2006 Hawaii Tour were a far cry from the usual cake-walk happenings of other tours that the unsuspecting band members had grown accustomed to. A well meaning trip to paradise soured into an arduous excursion with Murphy at the reigns at every turn-- yet out of the shards of adversity emerged a determined (and very tired) team of three musical lads, a dancing lass, and Joyce.
Here are their tales...
...Due to a death in the family, Pete and Lynda were forced to bow out of the trip at the last minute to attend to matters in England. The Hawaiian Islands had been battered by forty consecutive days of heavy rain and flooding before the band arrived...
...After meeting with the Waikiki Scottish Festival Officials, it is learned that the Games are effectively cancelled due to flooding and the remnants of the festival will be condensed into Kelly O'Niells Pub...
Despite Davids jet-lag from his six days in Connecticut, two days in California, and then onto Hawaiian time, and the mysteriously lost hotel reservation, and the unexpected rental car complication, the band powered out lively performances for the daytime festival, as well as some fiercely powerful four-hour sets for the Honolulu night life...
...Only taking occasional refuge at Awesome Lawsons hillside house to tune up the pipes and arrangements in lieu of Petes absence......And over those first few days the band contributed tremendously to the partying atmosphere of hundreds of spring-breakers, with expected results...
Though the weather tried it's best to foil the event, the bands played on inside the pub, including the UC Riverside Pipe Band. David was surprised to see a couple of pipers there that he had met previously at a summer music camp of which he was a teacher.
Though Bethany was coming down with bronchitis, the band celebrated the completion of the trips first leg by partaking in a massive jam session at Lawsons with Oahu's jam squad. The Uilleann pipes were loving the 80 percent humidity!
The next day came, and with a flight so quick you could hardly down a shot of cola before the flight attendants where picking up the cups, the band was in Maui.First order of business, ..."Maui Tacos", said Saalssa John.
Alas, no relaxation just yet... the band found their reserved beach rental house occupied by dirty clothes, sprawling empty beer cans, and a refrigerator full of rotting meat.
With all of their luggage, they descended on an unsuspecting beach to take in a Maui Celtic sunset while the rental agency sorted things out. It was not long though that the bands loitering had captured the attention of a group of surprised fans who happened to be at that beach. They were of course sympathetic about the discovery of the rotting meat.
A bit later, the band helped celebrate Stu and Joyce's 18th wedding anniversary at Mulligans as friend and owner of Mulligans Kevin O"Kennedy presented some fine dining.
Over the next couple days, the gang performed some nice concerts. What began as an upscale show at Mulligans ended in a full contact bloodbath finale on stage with the dangerous combination of a very small stage, sharp instrument appendages, and fast intense tune playing. To save the day, Kevin O'Kennedy grabbed a cold pint, adjusted the lighting controls, and leapt on stage to join in with his tin whistle on some tunes all with one lightning fast movement.
The next evening found the band returning to the mountain side hall of St.John's church for another concert. Among the nights surprises was seeing in attendance an old friend and past didgeridoo player for the Tinkers, as well as a giant spider intent on eating David's post show stash of cake on stage.
The drones of David's vintage Henderson pipes seemed to echo all the way down the volcano as the sun set.
After the show, it was back to Mulligans for a little after hours jam session with Kevin. "Boys of Balisidare"slip jig had come full circle -- Mollys Revenge playing the tune from MRIV with the lad whom Stu had originaly learned it from.
After such a late night...
...rest was needed. The next day, they were once again off to Oahu.
Once there, at the University of Hawaii, the group was ready to set up for the finale show: Tartan Day. And a sign that they were in the right place...
They pushed the Mollys Revenge button in the loading dock elevator and "ding"
Those assembled were treated to a spastic show with Stu, John, and David going at the tunes, Bethany tapping laps around the stage, and our friends the Muses harmonizing a list of traditional songs. Lawson took a few action photos and then himself jumped up with a gaggle of our Oahu celtic jamming friends for the grande finale.
When it was over, Joyce went to work crunching the numbers...
...then it was back to Maui for a few more days of relaxation, mental therapy and counseling. Well, I guess there's nothing that a drive to Hana in a Mustang wont fix...
--David P.S. We missed you Pete, and our condolences go out to Lynda and her family.
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