9/13/08

I woke up Saturday to my handsome roommate Adam wanting me to get ready to go to the pub to watch his beloved Manchester United take on Liverpool. So I got up and quickly got ready because it was nearly 12 and kickoff was 12:45. It didn't take long for me to get ready and Adam, Brian, Jake and I were headed to the LUAS to go to the Portabello. Once we got off the LUAS at Charlemont (same stop as the IES center). We started walking towards the Portabello, but saw a bunch of fans going into the Barge, so we made the decision to watch the game there (it turned out to be a good call because we later found out that there was no room to sit in the Portabello and we had our own room at the Barge). It turned out to be a really good game, Man U scored within the first 3 minutes, but then lost for the first time in a couple years to Liverpool who rallied and won 2-1 with a goal from a sub. It was a fun game to watch and a really cool atmosphere.
After the game we decided to head to Saint Stephens Green to walk around a bit. We actually walked around in the actual park (it was magnificent and green). We then walked around the entire area which includes Grafton Street. Adam, Jake and I got corralled by these two old Irish people who talked to us about God, it was definitely weird and ended in them saying we should think about becoming priests (that is never going to happen). Jake and I then stopped and got a pint of Guinness in Dawson's Lounge, which is billed as the smallest pub in Dublin. It was a really cool place, very small, but a great vibe. After that we walked with Brian (who disappeared and then reappeared like a magician) to the Saint Stephen's Green shopping mall to see about tickets for a music festival that night. The Hard Working Class Heroes music festival held at 6 different venues in the temple bar district. We decided to buy tickets along with tickets for Adam and Derrick. We came back to the apartment and told them and they were not that thrilled that we bought them tickets because they weren't sure if they want to go (it turned out ok because they both had a blast, it was an awesome time). We got back to the apartment and hung out for a bit and then got ready to go to the festival. We got on the LUAS again and this pack of girls that couldn't have been older then 16 were on and dressed up. One of the girls was obnoxiously drunk, we found out it was her birthday, and was making a fool of herself. The LUAS was packed as is, so her rants and yelling were aggravating us all. Especially her friends, because all but two of them decided to leave her before there stop because they couldn't stand her anymore. She will forever be known as Sloppy Girl.
So we walked down Grafton Street and headed to the Temple Bar District, we got there and it was cool to see. All the bartenders we have talked to have said that it is tourist central so they overcharge you (which lead to us having little desire to go out there). It was kind of surreal walking around with all the people on the cobblestone, pubs and cafes everywhere. We got the wristbands that we needed and headed to the Button Factory which was a lounge with a stage, it was neat. From there we went to four other venues and had a blast.
All the bands are either unsigned or not that big (hence Hard Working Class Heroes). We ended up to going to five of the six venues and all of them were awesome. These two bands we saw...hybrasil and frightened rabbits were awesome...the frightened rabbits actually open for death cab for cutie (a band a couple of my roommates and i are into) in Dublin and in Belfast. Dublin show is already sold out so we are going to try and see them in Belfast. It was awesome because we started the night with Hybrasil and ended with Frightened Rabbits.
It ended being an awesome night, one of the best I have had since being in Dublin. We caught the LUAS and headed back to Dundrum. Jake and I stopped at Tesco to get some food and then I headed back to my apartment where Derrick, Brian, Adam and I listened to some of the bands we heard and hung out until we went to bed.