I believed in him as a musician from his recordings, and believed in him as a person from what I had been told, and my job was to make him feel welcome and comfortable as fast as possible, with the help of all our band and staff – Shaky, Jon, Massimo, Widgeon, Sergie, Sarah, Anna, Paul, Josh and Brucey.
We gathered together yesterday for rehearsal at 4pm, and once Skin & Hide and Damo broke in to the first song, I knew straight away that my job was done, and all I had to do was stand back and let it happen. Skin & Hide had learned all of the songs and Damo, simply and professionaly “slotted in” as if they had been playing together for years. Both Skin & Hide and Damo made each other comfortable from the start, and it proved my philosophy that no matter how good a musician is, if they are not decent characters and human beings as well, they are no good to us at Charlies. We all have no more to do now except keep
changing the set lists for the week (Damo is playing tonight again, and also 3rd, 5th and 6th February, in case you missed last night!), and enjoy the music and each other´s company. As simple as that.
Just one other thought that crossed my mind which is of little relevance to this blog, but I want to air it anyway. The Carrigaline Hurling Club were here with us at Charlies for the last few nights celebrating their first county win in 125 years (I think), and they are a sound bunch of lads! There were 32 of them together, and we have had some bad experiences of clubs from different parts of the country on holiday here in Lanzarote and visiting Charlies, and most of them we had to simply ask to leave. We love people enjoying themselves at Charlies, but we can’t and won’t accept any people enjoying themselves at the cost of others. All must be comfortable and enjoying the music and the craic, and not just some at the expense of others. Of course there were one or two amongst them, but the rest of the lads pulled them into line fast and stood behind what Charlies stands for – and we all thank you for that. You were the first team, be it male or female, that survived at Charlies, and the funny thing about it is that we have had people back in the bar with their families or partners who we had to throw out when they were here as a part of a team, and they were as sound as a bell. We respect your custom, and all we ask is that you respect our “home”, Charlie´s Bar, and those of us who work in it (if you could call it work!). 
Anyway the bottom line is that we look forward to the rest of the week with Damo, and congratulations to the Carrigaline Hurling Team. Drink, Sex, Feck, Arse – and a little music in between!!
P.S. The next time I’m back home in Ireland, you could very easily find me standing on the sideline in Carrigaline, just to see are ye as good at hurling as ye are at singing, but only on a sunny day!
Murphy
