Mrs Shan and I went to see Kaiser Chiefs in the Big Top in Galway last Thursday. We've been there a few times over the years and it's a fab venue, very easy to get into and close to the front if you want to be up where the action is -- we were right at the front, near the middle, just one row of people ahead of us at the barrier.

I had a panicky few moments when we arrived outside -- the gig was meant to go ahead in 2020, but was postponed a few times because of COVID and other issues. I thought I had our tickets in a folder on my phone, but when I went in and checked, it was only a reminder about the rescheduled date, and I couldn't find the tickets anywhere! I think they might even have been posted to me originally, as it was so far back, and I was still mainly using paper tickets a few years ago. But we went to the box office, and a freindly lady helped us out and emailed replacement tickets to us straightaway -- phew!!!

The gig was highly enjoyable -- they have several real feet-stomping stormers, and it's virtually impossible not to get sucked in. We'd seen them once before, many years ago, when they were doing a charity event in Brixton and played a shortened set. It's a show that always stands out for me, because we were standing next to a blind man for most of the set. He had a walking cane, and during one song, when he got very excited and started jumping up and down, he began waving the stick in the air with excitement! The security guys saw someone waving an object about and rushed forward to deal with what they assumed to be a serious problem -- then they caught sight of him, realised he was blind, and wavered for a few moments, trying to figure out whether they should stop him or let him continue. To their credit, they saw he was doing no harm, let him carry on, and retreated, and a fabulous night was had by all!!!