g...g.....g.....g....galway

I'm just back from Galway and I can confirm that they have at least one stand around with your face painted in a funny costume saying nothing street entertainer (see post below). The individual in question was dressed like a tree. As with this type of street entertainment they weren't very entertaining. They were crap. The two lads just down the street were great value. A bloke on a keybaord and another on an acoustic guitar playing classics like 'Knockin' on Heavens Door' and the like. It was melodian as we might say here in Dublin. There was also a very funny band playing in Eyre Square on Saturday. It was fronted by some Italian bloke who was trying to get funky and political at the same time. That shit doesn't work unless you're Curtis Mayfield. This guy was more like Jamie Curtis than Curtis Mayfield. I searched the web until I found out that the gig was a world music gig of sorts. Here's how the Galway Independent previewed it:

Then, on Saturday 25 August from 2pm, a further concert of multicultural celebration is to be held in Eyre Square. The line-up for this event is as follows:

Natty Wailer and his band - authentic Jamaican Reggae outfit fronted by former member of the legendary Bob Marley and the Wailers.

The Rye - high-octane fusion of Irish trad, blues and rock, featuring quality musicians from Germany and Ireland.

Vesuwave - Funky Latin Rock, fronted by highly-regarded Italian guitarist/vocalist, Vincenzo Donnarumma.

Cafe Minor - successful Scandinavian quartet, well-known throughout the West of Ireand, who specialise mainly in Gypsy and Klezmer.

So there you have it. Well I'm not sure where Vincenzo is highly regarded but I imagine its someplace where they're a bit hard of hearing. I'm snapping I missed Natty Wailer, I reckon that could have been a buzz.

I also passed the most depressing window in Ireland. It's an old hotel in Salthill that now houses asylum seekers from around the world who have come here to work and live in the 'new' Ireland. The ho(s)tel has a huge front window where the asylum seekers sit and watch the world go by. Unfortunately the world of Salthill consists of lots of fat Dublin kids, on their holidays, going back and forth between the shitty amusement arcades, Leisureland and their caravan park. A lot of the fat Irish kids made it to the multicultural fest but I can't recall seeing too many of the asylum seekers. As Natty Wailer might put it: 'Welcome to Babylon'.