RTVE (Radio Televisión Española) is offering a free download of Bruce Stringsteen’s new single Radio Nowhere only until next Tuesday 4th September 2007 (I think). You can download it from this address www.rtve.es/bruce/ in MP3 format (4.5Mb). For those of you who don’t read Spanish, click on the green AQUI on the right hand side of the page.

A couple of days ago, I said I’d give more details on the two poetry performances I did as part of the Mozart Plus series of Chamber Music evenings at the Georgian House in Limerick. I was hoping to have the programme running order but I’m still waiting for it. In my excitement on the night I forgot to get one! So I’ll have to do without and post the running order of events on the night as a comment when I get it.

Originally, it was agreed that I would do the poetry at the Mozart & Wine fundraiser on Monday 13th August as a one off. However, on Thursday 9th August I was asked by Robert Creech if I would do some poetry at that night’s Mozart Plus concert since he was short on items for the event. I duly assented much to his surprise, as it would be a great opportunity for a dry run in preparation for Monday. I agreed to go on just before the interval when I would do three poems. It was to be a surprise item so nobody else was told except my wife.

Once in the Georgian House I got a seat in the front row but in the very corner where I could enjoy the musical items that preceeded me. As my time got closer my heart started to thump in my chest and I got sweaty palms and butterflies in the stomach - the usual symptoms of nerves before going on stage. I was praying that I wouldn’t get a bad dose of ‘dry mouth’ which would impact on the clarity of my delivery.

When the time came, Robert Creech duly announced the surprise and I walked on and duly did my three poems in the following order without any introduction or preamble: Resurrection, Samhain, Septet. As I was performing I could sense the power in the language as I brought it up from deep in gut. I could also sense the nerves and my legs began to vibrate and my hands to shake, though this did not affect my delivery, and the performance was impressive. I know it took everyone by surprise including myself. I was thrilled that I had done the material justice and that it had a deep effect on a good proportion of the audience, as many of them told me afterwards. I chose to start with Resurrection since this performance was a resurrection for me - the last time I did any poetry live in public being all of 21 years ago. The poem is also deeply significant for other reasons which there is no point in going into here as they would make little sense in the absence of the poem’s text.
I felt exhilirated that it had gone so well and looked forward to Monday night when I planned to do five pieces.

Thanks to Bernie English for bringing this U-Tube video on what the Shannon-Heathrow slots mean to the Mid- and South-West of Ireland - have a look at it here and give it a good rating if you care at all about this part of Ireland.

Lots of kudos to Andy who made the video during his holiday time.

Much as I would have liked to blog the entire Summer Music on the Shannon 2007 programme, this proved impossible. So I’ve been silent since the last day of July. The programme was a success yet again, but once more I found it to be very intensive, exhausting and exhilirating in various measure at different times. Both my partner (who was also involved in SMS 2007) and I were absolutely jaded by the end of the programme - we could barely move when we arrived back home on Sunday 19th August. Fortunately, we had a mini-break in Madrid with the children from Tuesday 21 to Saturday 25, and this recharged our batteries. SMS 2007 was a watershed for me as a poet, as I did my first public performances since the mid 1980s at two Mozart Plus concerts at the Georgian House in Limerick. But more of that in another post.