Julie Helen: 'I am always on edge ahead of a gig...I needn't have been'

I was delighted to get tickets to The Coronas at Live at the Marquee.

Going with my lovely friend Edel was a no-brainer, we have been mutual fans for years and have made the pilgrimage more than once.

We wanted to mark the occasion of our fortieth birthdays, having some good nights out together. Nothing ticks that box quite as well as a gig for both of us.

I was so happy that this year I could buy parking at the same time as buying the tickets.

Edel is the kind of friend where nothing is a problem and she provides support when needed in such a respectful way, I know I will never be stuck, but it was nice to have it sorted at the same time.

I am always a bit on edge right up to the point of the night itself though because in my advancing years, I have many experiences under my belt of knowing that, even with the best will in the world, the way wheelchair accessibility pans out can go belly up at the last minute. 

That worry will always be there I think, especially when my mobility is not at the optimum level.

I want and need to be out in the world though, feeling the heart-throbbing noise of a concert and being part of that live moment that we will never get back again.

We had a lovely dinner in Il Primo at the Silver Key in Balinlough beforehand, a favourite haunt. It is a testament to their establishment that I wasn’t the only customer sitting in a wheelchair, there were three or four of us at least that I saw and I can’t really explain how nice that feels, to be included and feel welcome without being an inconvenience.

We breezed into the carpark of the Marquee with our QR code for parking and made our way to the entrance.

As our tickets were being scanned, one of the security staff, Chris, stopped me to tell me she has read this column for years and always enjoys my writing. I was so chuffed, just that bit of encouragement made my week and we joked about how there would be no prizes for guessing the subject of the next column.

We met friends, Clara, Colin and Carol on the way in and had lovely chats. That’s the thing about Cork, about home, we will always meet someone.

Róisín O, sister of Coronas frontman Danny O’Donoghue, was the support act, sporting a lovely baby bump.

I marveled at her energy, remembering how I would be curled on the couch by 6pm when I was pregnant. We may have had tea and a caramel square during that set. When Edel came back with them we remarked how our choice made us officially old; but we were both perfectly content with it.

I felt the sound at the start of the set was not ideal. When I didn’t know the words, the clarity dipped, and we were close to the sound engineer in a prime spot in the wheelchair section, and I could see a concerted effort to achieve balance in the audio.

Then the Coronas and a few of their musician friends hailing from Cork blasted on stage.

As avid fans, we both felt the 2024 album just lacked those bangers we love, but there is such a repertoire and back catalogue that it was a truly great gig, right from Heroes and Ghosts, with a verse as Gaeilge, to the very end with the epic San Diego Song which we kept going for a good seven minutes.

It was a great precursor to Amble coming up soon.