Movie premières and other glamorous exploits

I should start by saying I don't live a particularly glamorous life, I just couldnt think of a better title. On Thursday night just gone my boyfriend and I headed to Wexford town for the premiere of the movie Staid. All I knew heading down is that several musicians we knew were on the soundtrack and I should probably dress up. Naturally I panicked and ended up in this floral number that was more cute than anything and looked like a child playing dress up. Seeing as I'm nearing my 34th birthday I should probably abandon any hope that I might get the hang of dolling myself up.

We didn't account for the traffic crawling into New Ross as we joined the masses making their way home so we ended up in Wexford with only moments to spare. This is when I realised a crucial fact, I don't know how's to navigate my way around Wexford town at all which left us at the mercy of Google maps to direct us to the Opera house. It got us there through a maze of one way streets with no parking and so we ended up parking in Tesco car park and running all the way back to the Opera house. Its one of those buildings that looks quite unassuming from the outside but is vast and impressive once you step inside. It far surpasses anything Waterford has to offer in the way of venues. We were shown to our seats with just moments to spare and I marvelled at the array of seats, most of them filled.

The Movie Staid was made by a Wexford man, Paul O'Brien , and it originally started out as a play. It was all filmed in Wexford town with the after party being held in the bar where most of the film was set. Sometimes going to see a film with no real expectations pays off and this was one of those times. The story centres around the owner of a local bar and the patrons who frequent it.
 It might not sound like much of a plot but the characters were brilliantly written and they really made the whole thing. The dialogue was very well delivered and full of humour and there didn't seem to be more than a few moments without the audience erupting into laughter. There was a realness to the characters too and that made you warm to them and There wasn't a dry eye in the house when Susan O'Neill sang in the final scene.

Once we'd gathered ourselves we hustled out into the cold night and made our way down to the Sky and The ground for the after party. This was the bar used in the film so it was apt as a location but it probably had far more novelty value for non Wexford natives like the boyfriend and myself as this was our first time inside so we saw it differently. We gathered upstairs and made ourselves comfortable and it wasn't long before we were treated to music by all the artists who sang on the soundtrack. Including Corner Boy, Paul Crean, Basciville and Susan O'Neill. It was fantastic to hear all the voices that contributed to the soundtrack in the very bar where the film was made. It added something very special to the whole experience. As the night wore on I found myself thinking of the drive home and my early start but I was holding out to hear Susan sing Fall without Control (from the film) live. I had an inkling it was going to be something pretty special. I was glad I stayed the course because the live version somehow managed to be a more captivating version than the recorded one and her performance was beautiful. I went home with my head full of the films best one liners and the last echoes of the song playing and I have been playing the soundtrack on repeat ever since.