Brosna Village: Strolling through the Rain

Here, we're back in Brosna village, County Kerry, starting with one of the four or five pubs (above) in the small village (perfectly designed for a pub crawl if thirsty).

Then there is the village church below:

Which has a beautiful high altar inside:

Next to the church, there is the cemetery:

Didn't hang around to find out the significance of the bell above, as it was absolutely bucketing it down.

Still, I walked up to the outskirts of the village where there was a welcome sign for visitors:

Up here, I had a quick look at the Brosna Gaelic Football Ground:

Actually ended up taking shelter in a small stand while walking round the ground:

It was just that kind of day (New Year's Day 2015).

UK: 'Danger Money' Album

Here I'm going back to 1979 and the 'Danger Money' album by prog supergroup UK.  First became aware of UK through seeing the band do 'Caesar's Palace Blues' on 'The Old Grey Whistle Test':

From here, I then became familiar with the 'Danger Money' album through an old mate of mine, Daz George, playing it to death on vinyl.  Thus, with this in mind, I had to go on Youtube recently to refamiliarise myself with the album after 30-35 years or so.

First, must say that I find both the title track and 'Nothing To Lose' incredibly melodic (not completely removed from what John Wetton went on to do on the first Asia album a couple of years later):

But my favourite tune now has to be 'Rendezvous 6.02':

Just love the layers (gentle tidal waves) of keyboards from Eddie Jobson at the beginning of this tune.

In contrast, the other two tracks from 'Danger Money', 'The Only Thing She Needs' and  'Carrying No Cross', I just, rightly or wrongly, find these a bit more 'laboured'.

Saw UK with a line-up including Wetton and Jobson (with Tony Levin guesting on bass) at Warsaw Palladium about five years ago, in 2009 if my memory serves me rightly, but I rather foolishly missed about a third of this due to arriving late after an EFL lesson (think that 'Caesar's Palace Blues' was the first encore).  Had only found out about this gig from a fly poster the day before and had, thus, got a ticket for the gig on the day.

Bantry: The Beicin Walk and Garryvurcha Church/Graveyard

The Beicin Walk starts off from near the old Railway Pier in Bantry.

And on a calm day provides a quite pleasant seaside stroll:

My travelling companion and guide, Dave Dealy, lead us round a short stretch of coastline for about 15 minutes, then took us into the back end of Bantry to look at the historic Garryvurcha Church and Graveyard:
 

It was a somewhat damp and dull day, but I found the old Garryvurcha Church remains and Graveyard quite photogenic:

UFO: My Favourite Schenker-Year Tunes

Absolutely love the UFO albums from the mid-to-late 1970s with Michael Schenker ('Phenomenon'; 'Force It'; 'No Heavy Petting'; 'Lights Out'; and 'Obsession'), especially the 1979 double live album 'Strangers in the Night' which (alongside Rush's 'All the World's a Stage') still remains one of my two favourite live albums.

However, two of my favourite Schenker-year UFO tunes are not from 'Strangers in the Night' starting with 'Space Child' from 'Phenomenon', the first UFO album with Schenker from 1974:

Remember my old friend Bruno playing this to death on audio-cassette when we, as teenagers still at school, had 'dens' in old houses in Bury, Lancashire in the late 70s/early 80s.

Also really like 'Love Lost Love' from the 1975 UFO album 'Force It' (the one with the great shower scene cover):

Remember another old friend from Bury, Gaz Mills, raving about this tune after he'd just bought the album, and he was right, it's a fantastic melodic Rock track.

And of course, the beauties from 'Strangers in the Night' (in reality, too many too mention) starting with most people's favourite, 'Love To Love':

Just love the changes of pace and emotion in this tune, and, of course, the "misty green and blue" image.

And probably the first UFO tune I ever heard 'Doctor Doctor':

But the one that's stayed at the forefront of my mental jukebox more than others, 'Out in the Street':

Durrus Village: Strolling through the Place

Back walking through Durrus village in County Cork again, at the Pier at sundown (above) here.  Below are the crab/lobster boxes on the Pier:

Below, we are passing the Church of Ireland church just down the road from the Pier:

While below is the old leper colony building across the water from the Pier:

And, of course, there's a nice relaxing pace of life in Durrus (and most other Irish villages I've visited):

Next up, it's the Catholic church in Durrus:

The door was open here so I managed to get a couple of nice shots inside:

And finally, when we had reached the centre of the village itself, everything seemed to have stopped to make way for a game of road bowling:

Just love the pace of life in rural Ireland.

Arena: Some Great Tunes

Been aware of the British Prog band Arena (with the original Marillion drummer Mick Pointer) for a few years, but until recently I had unwisely skipped giving them a proper listen.

So now that I'm giving the band a sustained listen, which tunes are emerging as my favourites?  Well, I really like 'The Shattered Room'; 'Butterfly Man'; and 'The Visitor', all class tunes:

As for the (previous vocalist) Rob Sowden versus (current vocalist) Paul Manzi debate, for me, both guys have great voices. 

Really like 'The Shattered Room' and 'Butterfly Man', as both tunes remind me of Marillion around the time of their 'Script for a Jester's Tear' debut album (remember seeing Marillion in 1982 at Manchester Apollo).

UFO: 'Long Gone' and 'Couldn't Get It Right'

Another song that has been at the forefront of my mental jukebox over the years is 'Long Gone' by UFO.  First time I heard this was when I saw UFO at Manchester Apollo in early 1981, and I thought "Wow, what a great tune to come on with".

From 'The Wild, the Willing, and the Innocent' album, I also really like 'Couldn't Get It Right', which, if I remember correctly, I used to have as a 7-inch clear vinyl single:

For me, this is just a beautifully melodic tune which is why it has also remained at the forefront of my mental jukebox for going on 35 years or so.

Like most people, my favourite UFO tunes are from the 1973-1978 Michael Schenker years (some of the greatest music ever made), and I also really like the first two (pre-Schenker) psychaedelic albums, but sometimes it's easy to forget that some of the post-Schenker early 1980s stuff with Paul Chapman on guitar was genuinely good like the two tunes above.