Each Yearbook launch gets better and last night was no exception! Everything was getting into swing when I arrived with unusually tidy hair, t-shirt and jeans swapped for something more glam. HP laid on a great bar and such gorgeous nibbles sensible souls wished they hadn’t eaten beforehand!
I always find photos in the Sugar Club really tricky as the ceilings are dark and there’s little light to bounce but luckily for me, Gillian Verrechia and Aoife Caulfield were happy to help me start the night with a flash! Aoife used to work with Gill and I at HotPress but recently left to join her dream crew at Bodytonic. Gillian kicked off a new acoustic night at the Button Factory on Monday and is on the look-out for interested bands. More on that later…

First pap-snap of the night was The Coronas of breezy smiles and curly hair. We last met at the Tisch premieres a few weeks ago and as the lads return to Oxegen this year, we’ll soon meet again. If you look closely in this pic you’ll see camera-shy Jim and Sean Kinetiks edging away. Don’t worry, they didn’t get far…

 

I finally got to say more than a rushed “hello!” to deadly Sinead Ni Mhorda of Phantom (seen here with the equally deadly Roisin whose mulled wine in winter is the best) …I forgot to congratulate Sinead on taking up the reins of the AAA morning show from Edel Coffey. I’m a rotten networker!

I often wonder what secrets the shady seats of the Sugar Club have seen in their time. It’s such a classic, intimate venue, swish and perfect for a gangster movie. Not intimate enough to hide Gaz Harding’s unruly mop though: I corralled the Kinetiks frontman, his brother John (who was thigh-deep in festmuck last time we met) and guitarist Sean before they went on stage to totally rock the house…oh, he’s a One, that Gary Harding, and ever so coy….check out this snarl!

It’s gotta be said that David Rooney was a fabulous MC! I’m biased though, as a bold young wan I always thought Fr Damo was a bit of a lash

Dan Hegarty had to take off and miss some fun but not before grabbing a pic with HP’s Niall and Mairin. I confided that my son believes he’s Peter Crouch of Liverpool FC fame and poor Dan said he hears that every single day! It might be some consolation if he grows up with great taste in music!

Wondering about my own lookalikey - or lack of one - and with an idea in my head, I bolted over to interrupt Caruso’s Shane in his chat with Noel Campbell from The Rags. I was thinking Noel and I could get married so I can live up to my diva reputation with a soundalikey. While I’m just too much diva for the lads, they did agree to a photo (also pictured is John Weston of Backstreet):

After watching a barman measure out some wicked whiskey measures, exuberance caught my eye: Radio City’s Tanya Lawless, troublemaker Thomas Walsh of Pugwash and HotPressers Stuart Clarke and Colm O’Hare were holding court in the cocktail corner. Thomas has a knack for great craic and bound a group together for a pic…literally:

Two very familiar faces appeared and after a moment’s puzzling I realised they were Orphan Code who played Castle Palooza last August: we embarked on a random photoshoot about five minutes after saying hello for the first time. I’ve just been over on their MySpace and notice they’ve a whopping four songs for free download!

Winner of the OffHerRocker Yearbook Costume Change Award goes to the alluring Mister Podge of the Ham Sandwich who sported THREE different outfits through the night, a natty leather mingling-jacket dropped for his outrageous skewbald waistcoat on stage. After the Hambo’s brilliant turn he donned this Looney Tunes Driving School t-shirt and struck a pose with beautiful Darcy:

Niamh was close by and it was my first chance to congratulate her in person on the arrival of wee Oscar. I confess I gushed a bit but aww, I <3 babies! We talked about her return to the stage and Niamh revealed she was thrilled to be back and had loads more energy. You don’t say, gigging ’til days before delivery must be pretty exhausting!

Shenanigans were underway in the outer courtyard even as the night wound down inside. Though I’ve raved about New Amusement for a while we’d never met so when I spotted two of the lads enjoying a smoke, I joined ‘em minus camera for some acquaintamising chat: I told them how much I’ve enjoyed Any Port in a Storm and we agreed that fleece is so uncool, it’s cool. I did mean to get a photo but they slipped away so instead I’m going to demand a full-on shoot :p

Here’s a pic of me with Brett from accounts. Except I call him Ray.

I popped down to Maria in the DJ booth… AKA Lil M, a devout music fan who loves her gigs, she’s been working really hard lately and kept the tunes coming all night. I’ll slip her loadsa good Irish CDs

Justin Ryan from The Blizzards was hanging out with The Soup’s Aidan Lonergan and Justin and Michael from The Aftermath. The first time I met The Blizzards was for a HP interview shoot in which we had 30 mins to work but ended up chatting so comfortably over tea in the Library Bar we ended up with only 10 minutes off George’s Street…and some brilliant, relaxed photos. I couldn’t help but give Justin a grilling on the new album they’ve been working on. Mastered in LA, it’s due for release in autumn and promises to be The Blizzards at their coolest yet.

These two stunning gents are actor Robert Sheehan and Rory Nugent of Spin 103FM who were such a laugh I wanted to squash them in my cambag and bring them everywhere! They gave good frolicking in front of the lens and left me with a cheek-chewing smile. Tired, wired and soberly aware of some great fun, 2008’s Yearbook launch passed without a hitch and I think it was our best yet…see you next year!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 9:25 pm and is filed under General Camaraderie, Music, Photography, gigs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.