Cops, Beer, and St. Patrick's day...oohhhhh the luck of the Irish
I posted this on myspace...but thought I'd recount my St. Patrick's weekend here...
St. Patrick's Day was friggin' awesome.
So, I started St. Patrick's day Thursday night playing for a local band 4th Day Echo. Much beer, dancing, and bagpiping was had. I pipes in St. Patrick's Day, got home at 3, went to work at 9, and prepared to do it all over again.
Friday I met my "merry group of friends" and who knows else at Hofbrauhaus for some German fare. Ok, so all the Irish pubs were packed, and this seemed like a good alternative. I had worn my kilt and had my bagpipes out in the car. I was unaware that Liz had asked the oompah band if I could play pipes, and they agreed. Soooo...the oompah band has everyone drunk and singing...but I'm a little worried that they're gonna thinking "wtf is this joker doing?!" Wrong. The place went nuts. Clapping, cheering, maybe a little dancing on the benches...
So, after about 4 beers, we leave there to head to The Pub near where we live. The Pub and I have a history because I asked them once if I could play a few tunes on the pipes, and they told me no. So, I wrote the operations managers and told them my disappointment, and they apologized and welcomed me to play in the future. So, thinking it's St. Patrick's day, I figure that it wouldn't be a problem.
Wrong.
We get to The Pub and they have tents set up outside to accomodate the crowd. We go into the tents, get beer, and I asked the workers outside if I could play pipes, and they allowed me...and...once again I got the people cheering and clapping and doing whatever they were doing.
A good five beers later, we went inside the bar itself. I asked a bartender if I could play, he asked the bar manager, who said no. This pissed me off. I had been assured by operations that "my playing would be welcomed with opened arms." And for fucks sake, it's St. Patrick's Day!
I asked the bartender the manager's name and where she was. So, I walked over to Mary, and as soon as she saw me, she darted off away from me to avoid me asking why I couldn't play.
This pissed me off more. So, in an act of defiance, my merry group of friends told me to play anyway, which I did. Instead of standing in one place, I decided to march around the bar. The bar is in the center of the pub, so it's easy to walk around, so I had my merry group of friends follow me out the bar and march right out the door, because I certainly wasn't going to give them any more money!
Marching around the bar, I noticed Mary cleaning a table. I could already tell that she was pissed because she wouldn't even look at me as I was marching her way. To ruffle her feathers a bit more, while she was cleaning the table, I decided to stop right next to her and play for a little bit...I'm pretty sure she gave me the deathstare.
That's not all.
So, we march out the door and I had stopped to talk to the door attendants for a minute. The rest of my merry group had walked off a bit and were waiting for me, or so I thought.
Not exactly. (My details might not be spot on because I was away talking to the pub workers.)
*They were waiting for me, but it seemed as though a couple of them had a bit of a runin with the police. To get beer outside, you had to buy tickets for $5 a piece. One merry band member didn't use all of his tickets, so he asked for his $5 back. Apparently he and another merry band member got a bit pissed, and there was a cop standing near them, who threatened to arrest them for saying "fuck." Well, I think in another bit of defiance, they kept using "fuck" anyway, which rocks, and they weren't arrested, which is awesome.
But, I think we partied in true Irish fashion. A bit of beer, a bit of defiance, and a bit of cursing.
St. Patrick's Day was friggin' awesome.
So, I started St. Patrick's day Thursday night playing for a local band 4th Day Echo. Much beer, dancing, and bagpiping was had. I pipes in St. Patrick's Day, got home at 3, went to work at 9, and prepared to do it all over again.
Friday I met my "merry group of friends" and who knows else at Hofbrauhaus for some German fare. Ok, so all the Irish pubs were packed, and this seemed like a good alternative. I had worn my kilt and had my bagpipes out in the car. I was unaware that Liz had asked the oompah band if I could play pipes, and they agreed. Soooo...the oompah band has everyone drunk and singing...but I'm a little worried that they're gonna thinking "wtf is this joker doing?!" Wrong. The place went nuts. Clapping, cheering, maybe a little dancing on the benches...
So, after about 4 beers, we leave there to head to The Pub near where we live. The Pub and I have a history because I asked them once if I could play a few tunes on the pipes, and they told me no. So, I wrote the operations managers and told them my disappointment, and they apologized and welcomed me to play in the future. So, thinking it's St. Patrick's day, I figure that it wouldn't be a problem.
Wrong.
We get to The Pub and they have tents set up outside to accomodate the crowd. We go into the tents, get beer, and I asked the workers outside if I could play pipes, and they allowed me...and...once again I got the people cheering and clapping and doing whatever they were doing.
A good five beers later, we went inside the bar itself. I asked a bartender if I could play, he asked the bar manager, who said no. This pissed me off. I had been assured by operations that "my playing would be welcomed with opened arms." And for fucks sake, it's St. Patrick's Day!
I asked the bartender the manager's name and where she was. So, I walked over to Mary, and as soon as she saw me, she darted off away from me to avoid me asking why I couldn't play.
This pissed me off more. So, in an act of defiance, my merry group of friends told me to play anyway, which I did. Instead of standing in one place, I decided to march around the bar. The bar is in the center of the pub, so it's easy to walk around, so I had my merry group of friends follow me out the bar and march right out the door, because I certainly wasn't going to give them any more money!
Marching around the bar, I noticed Mary cleaning a table. I could already tell that she was pissed because she wouldn't even look at me as I was marching her way. To ruffle her feathers a bit more, while she was cleaning the table, I decided to stop right next to her and play for a little bit...I'm pretty sure she gave me the deathstare.
That's not all.
So, we march out the door and I had stopped to talk to the door attendants for a minute. The rest of my merry group had walked off a bit and were waiting for me, or so I thought.
Not exactly. (My details might not be spot on because I was away talking to the pub workers.)
*They were waiting for me, but it seemed as though a couple of them had a bit of a runin with the police. To get beer outside, you had to buy tickets for $5 a piece. One merry band member didn't use all of his tickets, so he asked for his $5 back. Apparently he and another merry band member got a bit pissed, and there was a cop standing near them, who threatened to arrest them for saying "fuck." Well, I think in another bit of defiance, they kept using "fuck" anyway, which rocks, and they weren't arrested, which is awesome.
But, I think we partied in true Irish fashion. A bit of beer, a bit of defiance, and a bit of cursing.