No, Niall hasn't grown an afro and a beard, that is in fact Oisín Trench from ENEMIES on the drums above. Our very own Oisín (Murphy-Hall) sang with our fellow Kilcoole cronies on Saturday night at the launch of their new album Embark Embrace [https://enemiesmusic.bandcamp.com/releases]. As if stealing our front man wasn't enough, Harry (Croupier) joined them on the night, along with Rian Trench (Solar Bears), Ellie and Louise Macnamara (Heathers), Conor Adams (The Cast of Cheers) and the lovely lady Kate Brady. Rob, Niall and I studied the flawless performance of each song from various different angles and would meet after the show to exchange notes in preparation for our eLive gig next month.
Although Conor Adams will not be guesting with us at the The Workman's Club on June 13th, he will be supporting us with his new duo, Charmers. I have not yet seen Charmers before. This is not because they have only played two shows, rather I arrived on time to their first ever gig at the ASIWYFA album launch in Whelan's a couple of weeks ago only to find there was a mix-up with the guest-list. Having waited the duration of the set for this to be resolved, I finally got the stamp, got in the door: "Good night folks". Bahhh!! From what I heard (from the door) and by the reaction on peoples faces as they left, it seemed to be a pretty special show. I can’t wait to play with them next month; no guest list can stop me now!
Since the loss of our NY taxi-coloured van and friend 'Murray' in Enschede, Holland during our European tour, we've had to make a few changes in the Croupier day-to-day schedule. No major shotgun disputes anymore, which I guess is a good thing. Trying to skateboard a drum kit through town as a result of "No Show Niall" isn't the easiest thing though, and we can no longer make the trip to our rehearsal space in Arklow (Oisín's gaf)—as inconvenient as that may sound, those of you in bands will know the importance of a decent rehearsal space, i.e. no neighbours! We're now back in the more central location of Kilcoole, where it all started many moons ago.
The good news is that we are finally back rehearsing again for the first time properly since before tour, preparing our summer set with a few new surprises for our upcoming eLive gig and a couple of festivals over the course of the summer. Next on the agenda for the Croop Troop is the launch of our first single, "Power Up", from our upcoming EP next week on the 5th of June. We are dead excited to show you guys what we have been up to, so stay tuned.
Charlie / / CROUPIER
Croupier and Charmers will play eLive in the Workman's Club on Thursday June 13th. Tickets are completely free but must be reserved in advance and you can do so here.