Tory Island 10th July 2010

[Mrfizzy]

Tory Island was a unique experience full of Irish whimsy and a very memorable gig. Duke, Ben and Scottish Johnnie arrived on the day before us on the Friday and we were hoping to keep our visit a surprise. Pretty far North and it didn't get dark until an hour or two after London with nice sunsets as here at Gortahort about 11pm where we took the ferry to Tory Island the next morning

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We were welcomed from the ferry by the King of Tory Island as is the tradition!

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Having met the King, we found the Tory Social Club where we were to meet the Duke!
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We went hunting Tory Puffins in the afternoon and found a super colony - fortunately remember the binoculars! (Fizzy has a close up photo - they could only be seen from a cliff edge.
There are many Puffins here honest.
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Not good if you suffer vertigo
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Traditionally the Tory Social Club didn't start to fill until after 11:30pm as Duke, Ben and Scottish Johnnie had discovered the previous night when they had been listening to local songs with the King until 6:30am. They started on Saturday just after 11pm on the Saturday and Duke and Ben devised played a set list by ear. I'd guess an audience of over a hundred and pretty lively with lots of dancing as soon as the band started. We met runnerbean and Alice and five other from Belfast and I'm sure there were a goodly number from the mainland so that many could join in Duke's songs :)

The set list was as follows:

Everybody knows
Brixton Leaves
Sweet Sweet Kisses
The Jockey Club
Last Night I Nearly Died
No Cover Up
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight (Dylan)
Portrait
Salvation Tambourine
Slip of a Girl

After the first set the King of Tory Island played button accordion, with drum and a spell of traditional dancing. Duke joined in during the Ladies excuse me and by two of the ferry boat hands
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Second set
Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division)
I Let You Down
Digging an Early Grave
Soldier's Song
Bull and Bush
I'm Gonna Love You 'til You Love Me Back! (Paul Pilot)
Freewheel
You are My Sunshine (great audience)
Our Love Goes Deeper Than This
Phelim's Boat ( Gaelic)
From Clare to Here

The stage lighting wasn't working for most of the gig and it was too dark for video although Fizzy did manage a couple of photos.

The audience were amazingly enthusiastic and noisy and keen to join and it was a super mix of Duke Special gig and Ceilidh and decidedly fun and different!

There was a lot more to see on the Island and Duke did say that he would go back one day - I'm sure that the King would be delighted with big group of DS fans :)

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[pianofan]

That looks like it was one amaaaaazing place and gig!!

[Delly]

Oh what a beautiful place! And such a special gig! (No pun intended ;)) I'm as green as Tory Island with envy!

Was Yer Man surprised then? Did he try and escape, sorry, swim back to the mainland? Ha Ha.

And did you have a little chat with Ben about your commitment?:p

[Fizzy]

Fraid the King let the cat out of the bag! He said there were visitors from London on the island who were here for the gig which must have set alarm bells ringing :)
So there was time to escape :D

It was a truly fabulous place and so worth the trip! Loved every minute especially the puffins :) The islanders were very friendly and we were offered a lift back to our hotel by a nice young man so we wouldn't have to brave the horizontal rain!

And yes we did discuss commitment issues with Mr Castle ;)
Shame he didn't get to see the puffins.

[Mrfizzy]

As Fizzy said, the King let the cat out of the bag earlier on the Saturday.

Scottish Johnnie said that they hadn't expected any boardies to make the trip and they were delighted that fans had come from the mainland and the other mainland.

We always feel it's right to give priority to new fans and those buying merch who are talking to Duke and he had plenty of both before and after the gig. During the King's accordian set Duke was too busy getting invited on the dance floor so we didn't get to bother him too much. Fizzy will be posting what pics and vids she could get at the Tory gig and they are pretty poor quality but quite hilarious. :D

We did have quite a long chat with Ben before the gig and he did admit that we had passed his fan commitment test. Fizzy showed him our one good Puffin picture that he liked a lot. We left with Scottish Johnnie at 2:30am in the driving rain that had started around 7pm. Ben said that they would definitely be catching up on the previous night of no sleep. In the morning however, Ben had sent a tweet to say that they had gone puffin hunting instead at 6:30am when they finally left the club but had given up and gone to bed just after 7am! Duke only had a light shirt so Ben gave him his own very sensible kagool and wore a bin-liner himself to keep the wind and rain off. He said that both of them hate heights and they must have made quite a pair even more interesting than the puffins searching and struggling along the wind-swept headlands! :redface::redface:

[runnerbean]

Tory Island is the most beautiful place in a rugged and wild sense. Alice and I did do a bit of a pilgrimage, but I still think Mr & Mrs Fizzy are the top fans.

We left home about 8am and arrived on Tory around 6pm after a few buses, which were perfectly timed by Alice. A bit of a walk, which we thought was going to be about a mile but ended up 4! The last half mile to the top of the lane at Magheraorarty, where the ferry to Tory left at 5pm, we were given a lift by a kind local gentleman. He saved the day, without his help we would not have made it to the boat on time and I believe the next sailing was a pretty rough crossing. Ours was not what you would call smooth but sitting outside the whole time prevented us from being seasick but we got drenched. All par for the course. We met The Fizzys and their friends in the local cafe and caught up on some chat about Tory and our travels. We then went back to the b&b to get dried off (pointless). We made it to the Social Club around 10.30pm to a very lively crowd when shortly Duke and Ben appeared on stage to rapturous applause. Dancing and singing started immediately and continued until we left at 3.30am or thereabouts! The local young lads gave most people lifts back to where they were staying at the end of the evening. The whole evening was a joy. Duke sang a little song in Irish, which was my husband’s party piece; I couldn’t believe it, I have never heard anyone else ever singing it. Lovely memories. We went to bed very tired after a totally enjoyable evening.

The next day we spent exploring the Island (no puffins) and having a chat with the King in the art gallery. He is such a character.

Sailing away from Tory later that day, for whatever reason, I’m not sure, I cried. :( I think I left my heart in Tory and hopefully I will get back some day.

[Fizzy]

For Runnerbean and Alice :)
The traditional Irish song 'Báidín Fheilimí' ('Feilimí's little boat') and from Clare to Here finale
A slightly noisy but enthusiastic audience and odd lighting but a nice momento of a great evening:)

adtSBGC-YK4

Feidhlim's little boat went to Gola,

Feidhlim's little boat and Feidhlim in it,

Feidhlim's little boat went to Gola,

Feidhlim's little boat and Feidhlim in it




A tiny little boat, a lively little boat,

A foolish little boat, Feidhlim's little boat,

A straight little boat, a willing little boat,

Feidhlim's little boat and Feidhlim in it.




Feidhlim's little boat went to Tory,

Feidhlim's little boat and Feidhlim in it,

Feidhlim's little boat went to Tory,

Feidhlim's little boat and Feidhlim in it.




A tiny little boat, a lively little boat,

A foolish little boat, Feidhlim's little boat,

A straight little boat, a willing little boat,

Feidhlim's little boat and Feidhlim in it.




Feidhlim's little boat crashed on Tory,

Feidhlim's little boat and Feidhlim in it,

Feidhlim's little boat crashed on Tory,

Feidhlim's little boat and Feidhlim in it,




A tiny little boat, a lively little boat,

A foolish little boat, Feidhlim's little boat,

A straight little boat, a willing little boat,

Feidhlim's little boat and Feidhlim in it.


[alice]

Many thanks Mrs F for the video of Baidin Fheilimi and Clare to Here - and for the very helpful translation! Quite a sad little song really :( though the singing on the evening was anything but. Duke and Ben certainly won over the rather exuberant crowd and it was all great fun.

As RB has said, we had quite a journey, but all of it hugely enjoyable. The combination of Tory and Duke could not be resisted. We had a wonderful time on the island (and I think the King took quite a shine to RB ;) - though not enough of a shine to persuade her to buy one of his paintings). Rain and boat journey aside it was great.

Tory is the most magical and amazing place - beautiful, bleak and totally anarchic. Won't leave it so long until I go back. It does steal your heart.

[treed]

Thanks so much Fizzy for posting the videos of Tory Island gig. Would love to have been there!

Don't think I can make anymore of the gigs this summer and so was delighted to get to the solo gig in Howth on Monday. What a lovely spot and a great night! Didn't get any photos or anything to share as was too intimate a venue and didn't feel right.

Just wishing the man himself good rest and recuperation now as he was wrecked as you can imagine!

[Mrfizzy]

It's much more important to get along to the gigs and support Duke than worry about photos and such Treed! Our Stafford friends that came with us to Ireland are not tecchie at all and not registered on the forum but just as keen as we are to see his shows.

It's great that you got to go to Howth and always nice to get any feedback. :)

Duke sent a tweet on the 13th July that is probably something of an understaement "Just home from possibly the most diverse and knackering week ever. Leopardstown, Tory Island, Carrick, Howth and filming for Ruby doc"

It would be fun to aim for a big boardie/fan turnout for the next Duke gig on Tory though - the King would be powerful pleased and give us a fine welcome I feel sure!

[pianofan]

It would be fun to aim for a big boardie/fan turnout for the next Duke gig on Tory though - the King would be powerful pleased and give us a fine welcome I feel sure!

Count me in!:D

[runnerbean]

For Runnerbean and Alice :)
The traditional Irish song 'Báidín Fheilimí' ('Feilimí's little boat') and from Clare to Here finale
A slightly noisy but enthusiastic audience and odd lighting but a nice momento of a great evening:)



Thank you so much.

Another favour to ask, is there any way I could save this to my music files on my pc?

[Mrfizzy]

Thank you so much.

Another favour to ask, is there any way I could save this to my music files on my pc?

It is fairly easy to extract the audio from a movie using converter software or an on line service such as the free http://www.zamzar.com/ that has been mentioned on the board elsewhere if you have the time to work it all out.

However, I've sent you a PM! :)

[Jacqui]

I'm just catching up with all the action as I've been on holiday with the family to Devon & London.
This Tory Island gig looks as though you all had a whale of a time - so sorry not to have had the experience of traditional singing and island life. My parish choir is hoping to go and sing on Rathlin island, so you never know, I might eventually get to see some puffins.