Smoking increases the Risk of Losing at Raffles

At the Glór sessions raffle monday night - smokers were given fair warning to be back in on time, but it was with a delirious joy we watched as their tickets were fired out one after another as they failed to collect and the raffle went on.

I won a CD by Yngve Weiland, the class act that opened the night with Ray Manzakerian keyboard, and brilliant lyrics. Up next were folk from the Bamboo sessions, the lovely shine shine song, among others from Aidan Murphy, and a great couple of songs from Jody Trehy - Bamboo sessions sounds like a magical evening - on tomorrow night in the concert hall, 5 singer songwriters playing their stuff with a string quartet. With such high brow, beautiful stuff I wouldn't have been altogether shocked if Leonard Cohen had wandered up during his 20 minute break to fit in a poem or something, if he'd had a night off he would have definitely been there. (Leonard, if you're reading this and you would like to put your name down for to say a poem or even give us a song next monday night - check out www.stephenjamessmith.com for contact details, he normally needs bit more notice but he might fit you in)

We then had the uplifting and brilliant Harry Webley & Ophelia McCabe - part rap part poetry, they gave an energetic performance, and both together and seperately entranced the crowd. They're playing again, along with Stephen James and Colm Keegan at the Dun Laoighaire Festival of World Cultures and will be a show not to be missed. Ophelia even performed a rap in Irish - I must admit I didn't catch it all, but she had everyone eager to understand having witnessed her earlier brilliance - quite an achievement.

Then we had the break, an arm appeared around the door laden with a tray full of old fashioned soup bowls - the ones with handles that you often get at sit down funerals, these ones had a crucial difference, they were filled with jellies. My personal highlight of the night.

Afterwards the high standard continued with a great performance by previous MC and caretaker of the International Open Mic - Jacqueline Tuck, her voice is enrapturing, and she played beautifully, a real treat to see her, having not been to the place when it was under her stewardship.

After her came Enda Reilly - a regular, and very talented songster, he did a lovely version of 1913, with SJS speaking the words just a beat ahead of him, I thought it was a bit unprofessional - I mean having to be prompted like that all the way through the whole song - no actually it was beautiful, just another beautiful thing.

As if that wasn't enough - we then had Sabina - a croatian starlet in the making, singing for her first time in public, and what a debut, she sent shivers down our collective spines with her fragile, bjorkish voice, and gorgeous sparkling lyrics... as Stephen James said - it was an inspiration - and he'll punch anyone who says it wasn't. (you should find her stuff on www.myspace.com/lowsemusic)

Brian Kirk then made his impromptu Glór sessions debut with two lovely poems, introduced with his own lovely down to earth style, he's a real poet - his poems simple, heartfelt and true.

And another Monday night drew to a close, and yet again Tuesday afternoon's 3 O Clock slump hit me at about 10 am...... (I think I'll suggest to my volunteer coordinator that they should provide more cushions, ie aside from my good self, around the place for those handy snoozes.)