LAWNMOWERS MOTORCYCLES CHAINSAWS: The suburbs of Galway.

As I walk through the empty parking lots of the suburbs of Galway, I notice a sign in bright yellow neon flashing the three words that say it all: LAWNMOWERS MOTORCYCLES CHAINSAWS. For a moment I could’ve sworn that I was in North America again, with the strip malls, and the cookie cutter houses all around me, I noticed for the first time since I was in Rotterdam, the parts of this world that are far too similar despite their geographical differences.

Robbie, The McCleave Gallery and I managed to find a free place to stay while in Galway through the generosity of our newest dear friend Caitlin who was staying in a ‘luxury student housing’ condo in the suburbs of Galway. Unlike many larger cities though, these suburbs were very close to the downtown Galway, which had a population of only about 70,000 people (a fair size for Ireland). All in all, Galway was probably one of our best visits. Merely staying with someone who was hospitable, and knew the city fairly well helped immensely. There were plenty of live street performers and buskers which made the streets very lively, and the people very receptive to any public performance or intervention. Unfortunately, the weather was a little off for most of our stay which left the gallery little opportunities to present itself without the risk of the books being destroyed by water damage. The raincoat that I had made seemed a little dodgy as well, which left me to using a rain cover that I had bought at MEC back in Canada about a year ago during the last tour across Canada. There were however a few ways around this, like taking the Gallery bowling, and to the local shopping malls, which may not have been quite as exciting, but a cultural experience in itself nonetheless.

During our last night, we discovered that Broken Social Scene was playing a free concert in a small local hotel near the Atlantic Ocean. Excited and curious to see a Canadian band in Ireland, Robbie, Caitlin, Marco and I ran through the pouring rain to find tickets to this rare event in Galway. Being a free show and all, you would’ve thought that it would be easy to get in, however, discovering that the show was being sponsored by Heinekin, meant that there had the be a catch which was in this case signing up online beforehand and completing some online questionnaire about what is your favorite beer etc. Almost giving up completely, on our way out, Caitlin somehow found us a way in. The show was great, although not quite as good as other times I’ve seen them. A little bit more loose and playful though, but musically a little messier as a result. Mostly, I adore a loose, messy appeal, but in the case of Broken Social Scene, unfortunately I’m not sure that it suits their style, being a 14-piece band and all.

So despite our suburban surroundings, the stay in Galway was magnificent. The people were very friendly, and the town seemed to be alive with culture and beautiful seascape and landscape surrounding it. So we’re off now to the Northern regions of this island, which I’m told is very different. I’m sure it will be, as we will see very soon indeed.