Pheeeeew! An eventful couple of weeks in boner land then. This is a long one, you have been warned.

January saw a couple of hurried and flustered weeks waiting for vinyls, cds and life-size cut-outs of Tom Selleck to arrive and doing rehearsal sessions for what was to be our first proper tour.More…
This opened with an appearance at the Melting Pot night in Cypress Avenue, Cork. Despite the monitors blasting the living shit out of our ears and the carpetburn-induced bloodied knees, we had a ruddy good time, and thanks to Captain Moonlight (savage banter), Ol Dirty Chancer, Andy & Jimmy for the tunes, Sian, Barry and all the other mad punters that gave it a lash, and last but not least, Mark for putting the whole thing on - Big ups! A downside, on what was a funny old night, was the most cretinous caveman of a bouncer ever to drag his knuckles on the earth not letting Sarah (Gav’s 21 year-old missus) into the venue for the gig for lack of ID, despite the fact she drove loads of our equipment down to a city where she knows no-one. Not tonight my hole.

And then the car Gary (our drummer) was driving broke down in the depths of Tipperary on the way back the next day! Double aargh!

The next couple of days were spent preparing for the Newbridge and Dublin Shows on Friday and Saturday. Friday in the Riverbank was fucking incredible; the Pyromaniacs and Ciaran supported and rocked and the general vibe in there was one of extreme mayhem. Super Extra Bonus hugs to everyone who made it the insane experience it was. Thanks also to the staff at the riverbank on the night.

Sir Moonlight and Nouveaunoise were top notch in Whelan’s on Saturday the 9th, and we ended up playing a decent set to a fucking flatteringly big crowd. It was a mad sensation watching people crowd surf at your own gig! Thanks to Joe on the door, Allaister and the soundman who’s name I can’t quite recall at present. Fucking great night.

A week of recovery was needed before we bonered our way down to Limerick the following weekend for a poetry recital in Baker Place on the Friday. This is a cool place; kinda small but made brilliant by the staff – Ben and the other brilliant bar staff and cool hand Nick, the man who makes things happen – nice one! It was a quietish gig, but a good one nevertheless, and big thanks to everyone who came, and of course Enda who played some great music beforehand. This was also the weekend that we were to play in Waterford, but apparently the management in Philly Grimes’ had double booked us with a local birthday – party poopers. Maybe next time.

Jen and the gang at Bruised Fruit promotions sorted us out with a gig in the Spring and Airbrake in Belfast for Thursday 21st. The excellent Jane Bradfords were on before us - check em out, they are rather deadly. We played tight but admittedly to a pretty small crowd – I was nearly crying for the first few tunes. However, a couple of mentalists started dancing and before long everyone who was there joined in, including a bunch of rockers complete with Slash top-hat – nice. So a good night after all thanks to the punters – and Fitzy, even though you’re a shit guide.

A day of rest followed before heading west-side to G-way y’all… I’ll stop talking like this now. Fair play to Gugai for putting us up and sticking on a free show in Roisin’s. And Andy and Jimmy who once again wowed us with their fuckin amazingly creative turntablism. The crowd again here ruled, nearly a full house, and even though things were tight on stage, we had a great fuckin time. Big ups to Oisin and the Newbridge and Shelbyville possies who came down for the evening.

Which brings us on nicely to one of the strangest and most wonderful nights of our lives. Being nominated for the choice prize along with all the others was an honour. We bounced around our rehearsal room like things that go boing! when we heard our nomination. As a result, last Wednesday night in Vicar Street was something that we were going there to enjoy and savour, but ultimately then get our gear together and go home and get ready for work and gigs the following two days. It’s a cliche, but we had no expectations whatsoever (unlike Ciaran who got himself a bottle of champagne after a celebration of his own that day;) and presumed that one of the other nominees would win the prize. We played sloppily , something we were pissed off about considering the audience, but at least Paul O Reilly from Channel One performed “Everything Flows” beatifully and with aplomb - a wonderful experience. What ensued was as you could all see, wholly unexpected and entirely incredible. Still. Not much remains to be said on this except a big thank you Lisa, Ciaran, Mick and the rest of the stage and behind-the-scenes staff on the night and Jim, Dave and the judges. Thanks also Dry County (techno in Vicar Street ) , Delorentos (a nicer bunch ya might not meet), Kíla, Adrian Crowley, Stanley Super 800, Cathy Davey, The Flaws , David Geraghty and Róisín Murphy – all of you, and many more who weren’t nominated, were worthy of the prize. Oh yeah – we got to say “fuck” on the radio

The following night we played a woeful set at the childline rocks charity gig in Spirit (now the Academy). A backline we weren’t used to, weird sound and absolutely crippling hangovers don’t go far enough to excuse the poor quality of that particular performace, so a super extra bonus apology to anyone who feeled they wasted their time watching us that night – we’ll make it up next time, honest. Last Friday was the last date on our tour – Eddy Murphy’s in Thomastown Co.Kilkenny. This is a fuckin amazing town and the venue is class too – the best place possible to end your tour, and it wouldn’t be the same without Eva, Teddy, James, Philly and anyone else who lends a hand keeping it going. The pyros and Moonlight (on home turf no less) were on hand again to lend a touch of madness to the proceedings, and we played a messy but good set (if that’s possible) to a similar crowd. The hospitality was brilliant as usual, and we had a decent session afterwards and the next day – next stop Tenerotti!

A final few thank yous to some ultra-important people who’s help has been indispensible over the last month; Aoife and Chelsea for their expert flogging abilities, you’ve paid for our petrol! Steve, Gary and Sarah for carting the boners around the place. Sean for remedying a million headaches on a million different occasions; priceless. Nialler for rummaging through the forest in search of the ever-elusive honey. Gary for stepping into a massive pair of shoes and pullin it off in fuckin style – a1 sharon. And finally, the people from Newbridge, Naas and indeed everywhere else that went to our gigs and supported us over the last month – super extra fuckin nice one.

Right now Rod is in Brazil visiting his family, so we are continuing writing for our next album, hopefully out this year. Sit tight for a remix album of our debut in May, with a launch party that we promise will be fucking massive.

Cya later everyone - Super Extra Bonus Party