Going to the Barns at Wolftrap, Sanctuary Concerts in NJ and Freight & Salvage in Berkeley.

Might have a big crew going to the NJ concert, all my NYC buddies. Anyone else out there going to any of these shows(Mike and Bob?)

Best,

Pat

I do plan on going to the Sanctuary one in New Jersey...It is on a Saturday (not a school night) so I can stay up past my bed time.

Looking forward to possibly meeting and saying, Hi!

I hope it is not the last concert...(but sadly I know it might be one of the last...although I did think the one in MA last winter was my last so this is a little bonus!)

Mike

All right Mike! We finally get to meet! We will try to arrive early. We are doing some stuff in NYC before the gig. Hope the traffic isn't bad.

No gigs for Cherish The Ladies around Maura's dates. Would love to see Joanie Madden in the house!

What about Bob?

A few years ago...when Maura was playing at the City Winery, Joanie Madden came on stage for a bit...It was very nice...

Bob had been having some troubles with his eyes...I hope he is feeling a bit better.....It would be really nice if he came to the show as well.

I am really looking forward to it.

I have been following Maura on Twitter...It is fun...She is not afraid to speak her mind!

There's a City Winery show for Paul Brady on Oct. 27. Might go to the show in San Fran.

Does anyone know the hot place to stay for the New Jersey show.

It is 1 1/2 hours from my home and I could drive home....but I may treat myself and my son to a hotel room so we can relax and enjoy ourselves!

Mike

The SoCal crew is staying in Philly after the show. Then off in the morning to the Chargers vs Redskins game in Maryland.

are staying

long day over here!

Okay..good to know.

I might call the venue and see what they recommend that would be local. I think we may treat ourselves and not have to drive so far home that late at night! (You'd swear I was 80 years old!).

The show is coming up in a month!....

Well, it was a nice evening last night.

Maura sang at church in Chatam, NJ. She was in particularly fine voice. Greg Trooper (the writer of the song, "Ireland,") opened up for her. I had never heard him live before, but I will definitely be going to see him some more. He was really great. And, of course, Maura did not disappoint.

For her encore, Greg came back on stage and they sang a duet of Ireland.

Anyhow, I met up with Bob and then we met Pat Ryan as well. (The three groupies from this board). We hung out with Maura for a few and then went on our way. We have said we would try to do a road trip to Nashville, at some point, if she does a benefit concert, etc. I hope it works out. Pat seems like he'd be fun to hang out with.

Anyhow, here's hoping this is not the last show we all see!

Great show in Chatham NJ last night, great to see Mike and Liam, again, and then met big Pat for the first time, and his buds, what a blast that was.

Fun, very lively crowd, Greg Trooper was a terrific opening (and duet closing) act.

Maura was terrific as usual!

Hey, Pat have you really been to a 100+ shows, that’s incredible! I wish we had more time together last night.

Now in three weeks, Laura and I get to see the “Irish writer” of the closing number for MO (for years now), the incomparable song “Crazy Love”! written by the incomparable Van the Man. No one does Van’s growl on the line “H[s]he Makes Me Righteous” like Maura does.

I wrote a term paper a few days ago about the last week of shows and it disappeared due to login issues. I will try to get something in later on today. Still catching up from last week.

That has happened to me before...so frustrating.. Sometimes I type it up in MS word and then paste it in (when I think of it).

Cant wait to hear the report.

Mike

Test

Still coming down from last weeek. Flew out on Virgin Airlines on Oct 31, plane was empty. Virgin Air is a wonderful company, great service, new planes and lots of room. My brother and his pal Jody Manor (opening his new biz The Waterfront Market in Alexandria this week) went to the show on Halloween Night. The Wolf Trap is a great little venue in Vienna Va. It was my first show at the WT. We usually go to Maura's shows at The Birchmere booked by my brother's fellow co-worker Michael Jaworek. The show was amazing as usual. My brother and Jody had to leave early. Special thanks to Trina Vargo for dropping me off at the metro station. Trina is an old friend of Maura's and runs the US Ireland Alliance. Trina throws a killer party every year for the Oscars. Maura sang Crazy Love with Van a few years ago at the Wilshire Ebel Theater. The party has since moved to JJ Abrams studio called Bad Robot in Santa Monica.

Day 2 I had lunch with my brother at my favorite bar/restaurant in DC, The Old Ebbit Grille. My buddy Brad Green flew in from San Diego in the late afternoon and we hit the monuments at night and the bars around GW University. Lots of fun!

Day 3 we drove to pick-up my stepson Michael at Newark Airport. We hit NYC and cruised around Time Square and had a few pints at one of my favorite Irish bars called Eamonn's on E. 45th St. The show at the Presb Church in Chatham was a stunner. Maura was on fire and we had local hero Greg Trooper open the set. He came out later and did a wonderful job on his song "Ireland" with Maura harmonizing. Never heard that one live. Her a cappella numbers are one of my favorite parts of the set. The sound was hair raising on "Hay Una Mujer Deseparacida" and I always love to hear the song "I Know My Love" with the audience singing along with Maura. I was standing dead center balcony the whole show. The acoustics in the church were Maura said she saw me up there singing and swaying along after the show. It was wonderful to finally meet Bob, Mike and his son Liam after all these years. Liam is a fine young man and you must be so proud of him Mike! We all must make the trip to Nashville for a future gig or for a bbq with Mac/Mo/Jesse. Maura's official photographer Gwendolyn (don't call me Gwen) Cates was in the audience and was hanging out with all of us after the show snapping photos for people with IPhones. After the show we drove to Philly and had a few drinks at the bar. Love the beds at the Westin Hotels, super comfy.

Day 4 Philly to Landover for the Chargers vs Redskins heartbreaker for us Charger fans. I ran into the CMO of the Chargers at the game. I turned down a job with him about a year ago. I made sure to tell him I will gladly take the next position available. After the game we went to Carmine's near Gallery Center and then hit all the monuments at night. Michael didn't remember any of the stuff that we took him to years ago. We went to the Washington Monument, Lincoln, Vietnam War Memorial and the Einstein statue. The Washington is all lit up at night and looks cool from the steps of the Lincoln. We hit a few bars along the way back to my brother's co-op at the Mendota Buidling.

Day 5 we hit The Capitol Bldg, Jefferson Memorial, Hains Pt and then off to Chadwick's in G-Town for lunch, then off to Dulles. Michal and I had an empty seat between us on the way back.

Day 6 - Went to see Paul Brady at a tiny club in San Pedro called the Annex. Show was sold out with adoring PB fans singing along to just about every tune. Special request for Arthur McBride was huge. The whole place went nuts! Got to hang out with Paul after the show and filled him in on all the fun stuff from the week prior. He was stunned to hear that someone stole Maura's IPad from out of her hands in Baltimore. Wish I was around for that one!

I've been under house arrest by my wife Mo for the last week. We are hoping to go to the Berkeley show and then off to wine country pending results of Mo's surgury. She might have to go back in for more. Not fun for anyone.

I will check back later about the NoCal shows.

Best,

Pat