So I've just had the best week I've had in a long, long time, and it's done so much for my morale that I'm gutted it has to end.
I've mentioned more than once that we'd got tickets to go and see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the Dublin O2, after deciding against going to the Isle of Wight festival. So, earlier this year I parted with £77 of my family bond (well, a little over that if you count having to fork over for passport photos - which I had to get done twice because the first set were awful even as far as passport photos go) to finally renew my passport, and was granted a week's paid holiday by my Paid Job.
I went to see them with my dad, brother and sister, and a couple of my dad's bandmates were there too (although they had seating tickets - which I don't envy them for in the slightest, given how close we ended up standing to the stage). After a day spent hanging out with dad, sis and dad's partner's daughter in Glasgow doing various things, we made our way to Prestwick and got a Ryanair flight to Dublin - a surprisingly hassle free experience given the poor things I've heard about them from various people. We then met in with the brother (who had flown over from Edinburgh) and, after a bus to the O2 to try unsuccessfully to collect our tickets in advance (box office didn't open until the doors did), we got the Luas back to where our apartment was.
Since we'd got an early morning flight, and we were all soaked from walking from the Luas station, sis and I went back to bed for a couple of hours. When we got up and dressed again, we went for a pub dinner before getting the Luas back to the Point Village to go to the gig. Again, we had to stand outside queueing for ages, in the rain. This makes me glad I downloaded the Kindle software back to my phone when I loaned my actual device to my mam, as it was something to keep me occupied briefly.
But eventually, the doors opened and we went in, picked up the tickets and made our way into the venue.
The venue, first of all, is stunning. Formerly known as the Point Theatre before O2 took it over, it holds a capacity of 14,500 both seated and standing (9,500 if all seating). We ended up near the front, and I still can't believe how close to the stage we ended up being.
Petty was supported on the European leg of the tour by a guy called Jonathan Wilson - who I thought could have been good, but for the obvious sound problems with his set. After he was done I made a mental note to dig him up on Spotify to see if I genuinely liked what I heard.
And then Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers took to the stage, and we all went nuts. How exciting to be standing only a few feet away from a guy who's been a genuine musical hero since I was really young. The set list was great, I genuinely cannot fault a single song choice. Last time I had a lump in my throat from a rock show was Paul McCartney nearly two years ago, it was incredible. (More details can be found here.)
The day after, still reeling from how amazing the gig was, my brother headed back to Edinburgh and my dad, sister and I spent the day in Dublin before flying back to Prestwick. We spent most of it wandering around, and in between we visited the Guinness factory. The admission included free Guinness. It genuinely tastes better in Ireland.
I would most definitely go back to Dublin again, but I'd need to save up - it was so expensive. But yeah - it was definitely worth going there for Tom Petty. I hope he doesn't leave it 20 years to tour Europe again, although I'd happily go to America to see him.
On another note, I hope this is the beginning of me blogging more frequently in future.
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