Thoughts and Thank You's On The 2002 UK "Irlish" Concert Tour!

For those you that were not lucky enough to see Gilbert in concert this year, the following is the a small recap of the Spring 2002 "Irlish" UK Tour!

Firstly, the UK tour landed in these cities and venues:

11th April - The Opera House - Newcastle
14th April - The Woughton Centre - Milton Keynes
15th April - Central Hall - Grimsby
16th April - King George's Hall - Blackburn
18th April - City Varieties Music Hall - Leeds
21st April - Ronnie Scott's - London

Gilbert stuck extremely close to the song selection of the Irish leg of the tour. However, he did alternate songs, and those are listed at the end of the green chart! The chart is a song-by-song comparison of the two tours. It is safe to say that we've seen the last of "Irlish" tours since November will bring an early Christmas gift in the form of a new album/cd from Bygum Records. Irlish will be two years old this June, having been released in Japan of 2000!

Based on numerous emails and conversations with those who attended the shows, it can be said that the tour was a success! Apparently some venues were well attended and one or two could have used a little help! Lack of promotion has always been a sore point for fans. Case in point was the tour promoter's website which still stated "UK Tour Coming Soon" two days after it closed??? However, it was a brilliant publicity move to have the Daily Mail features appear smack in the middle of the tour. Bravo! Gilbert also received some press from Grimsby and he appeared on BBC Radio Leeds after the Newcastle gig!

Gilbert is blessed with an extremely loyal following of die-hard fans. This was evident again with this tour as fans flocked from Beligum, Ireland, the Netherlands, Scotland, and many English towns and cities to see him. In return, Gilbert continued the tradition of his "Meet & Greet" at each concert's end. Fans have always expressed their joy and excitement of meeting him, shaking his hand, taking a few pictures and asking a question or two. After two plus hours of performing, most artists would be out the door before the house lights went up. Gilbert's Brother, Kevin was as always, accommodating and willing to help fans get backstage to meet "The Man." A true Gentleman! This was evident at Ronnie Scott's where if it wasn't for Kevin and Mick Parker, my friend would not have met Gilbert. It seems that the venue staff was anxious to lock-up. Security was also the tightest in London with many recording devices being "coat-checked"! Tours are not cheap and usually supported by a record company or corporate sponsor. Unless you sell out Wembly or Madison Square Garden for multiple nights, ticket revenue does not help defrey the many tour-related costs. (Paul McCartney tickets were $100.00 each for the cheaper seats!) So with that in mind, we are thankful that he still tours and keeps ticket prices at a reasonable level!

The songs "Go Forth And Multiply" and "Grey Hair" are two songs to keep note of from this tour. "Go Forth And Multiply" has been around for at least ten years and it surfaces on occasion. A videotape performance exists when the song was performed in The Haag on October 10th 1992. "Grey Hair" is also a song which apparently he has completed. A snippet of the song was performed at the Beck Theatre during his 1998 UK Tour. He also performed some other song snippets! Let's see what happens with them. It's great that Gilbert returns to music video with "Say Goodbye." The music video stars UK comedian Harry Hill dressed in one the famous "G" sweaters. Get your VCR ready!

Gosullivan.com sends a heart-felt "Thank You" to Kevin O', David B., Reed & Joann, Martin & Anne, Linda, Jane, Sjaako, and Lorraine for their support during this tour! It's difficult to keep the enthusiasm going when you're thousands of miles away from the action. A special "thank you" goes to Chris Sandys at the BBC Radio in Leeds for his choice of fans for the Gilbert Interview in spite of all the possible transatlantic snafus. I must also mention Graham Moran at the Saville Row Florist in Newcastle who created and specially ordered the beautiful purple daisies! Interesting enough, his bother, Paul Moran, is a London session musician and approximately 15 years ago Paul played keyboards/piano with Gilbert for about a year whilst he was on tour. I cannot forget to thank Steve Graves, the Owner & Moderator of the Yahoo GOSmailing list who made it possible for me to speak to Gilbert via Radio Leeds.

Finally, those of us who live "across the pond" gladly welcome another "British Invasion" or "Irlish Invasion"! Next year marks the 30th anniversary of Gilbert's only North American Tour! It's a long time to wait. Unfortunately, "the pond" is just big enough where hopping on a jet is not practical :-(

This yellow box indicates the number of songs from each album which Gilbert choose to sing in concert! It might be a glimpse into what albums Gilbert likes himself!

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