You're Gonna Miss This

No matter how much studying needs to be done, Thursday Nights are Wicked Wolf Nights. And every Thursday night brings us the type of euphoria and pure happiness that you can't get anywhere else. Somehow this small town bar, staff, and patrons have become so much apart of our four months. We are all dreading our last night at the Wicked Wolf and our metaphorical and literal last songs.

We left like we always do, on the 9:45 bus to Blackrock. Jen, Stacy, and I had indulged in some Domino's since all of us were hungry and too lazy to cook. Frau Curry (her German outlaw name) had since returned from her adventures in Manchester and London which culminated in a 11 hour adventure home from London by train (four of them), a ferry, and buses due to the relentless Iceland volcano and its never ending ash cloud which once again shut down the Dublin Airport. In the words of Sir Coleman, we should fear and respect its power. I'm about ready to buy a ticket for the Queen Mary or another Titanic like boat to get back to the USA. However, I'd like my Titanic like boat to actually be unsinkable. My solution to the ash cloud (and the recent oil spill) is a giant wet-vac. However, some people and their engineer boyfriends doubt the feasibility of this idea.

We arrived at the Wicked Wolf on time to see karaoke in full swing. We took our front row seats and on cue Brock sang "Human". I honestly prefer Brock's version to The Killers version, but that may just be my emotional attachment. There was an interesting crowd tonight, including two over served guys who just happened to sit next to us. It was instantly a good night when Brock called Stacy to the stage to hand her money to buy us a round of drinks. Stacy had bought Brock a drink last time we were at the WW, so he owed her a drink, but buying us all a round was super nice of him. When Stacy returned with our drinks, the red shirted man (Brian, I think?) had taken Stacy's seat. She kindly asked him to get up, but he refused. We did not like this man. Although him and his friend's rendition of "Nothing Else Matters" was quite entertaining. And when he got up to sing, Stacy reclaimed her seat. Then one of them sang "Total Eclipse of the Heart", which WE wanted to sing, and did a poor job to top it off. His only redeeming quality was that he unnecessarily threw the F bomb in the lyrics occasionally, and Claire about choken on her Wicked and had to remove herself from the table to pull it together.

At first we were worried that our usual friends were not in attendance, but soon Allistar was taking the stage for a rendition of "I Swear". He was definitely fired up again tonight and belted out "The Only One" as well. He greeted us with hugs and asked us what song we wanted him to sing. We saw Mark walk in and the barkeep emerge from the basement. All was right in the world. Then Mark took the stage to sing his usual hits. This time he brought props. Sunglasses to make himself a little more bad ass as he rapped his way through Gangsta's Paradise. He had to remove them about halfway through, too gangsta or did he just feel ridiculous. Or perhaps he couldn't read the lyrics, which by now he should know since he sings it EVERY WEEK. Brock automatically played Streets of Philadelphia next, and the way he acted, you'd think he'd never seen the song, or sang it, instead of doing it EVERY WEEK. He was so into it though. I thought he was going to cry or pass out from the sheer intensity of his singing. Normally my favorite part of Gangsta's Paradise (excluding the genius lyrics) is Brock's ghetto dance moves in the background. However, Brian (the stool stealer) was getting up in Brock's face in the back of the stage. It got so intense and Brian was just so relentless that Brock had to get Eugene to come up to the stage and tell the guy to leave. I wanted to give Eugene a round of applause for his escorting skills but the guys next to us seem to be friends with red shirted Brian so I refrained.

I think Brock was fed up and needing his favorite Americans' company because he called us to the stage to sing. Um... we hadn't submitted a song request form. We ask him what he wanted us to sing, and he said "Britney Spears". Typical. While we thought of a song, we let some woman sing a rather poor version of "Summertime" which was slow and not a crowd pleaser at all. Not that the crowd was that receptive. Because we belted out "Don't Stop Believing", the ultimate karaoke song and the crowd was just so-so. Laura & Claire even threw in some harmony.

Then Suzanne got up and sang "Nothing Compares to You". Later on, we will wonder who she is singing about. She was borderline awful so Brock had to help her out. Sam & Aoife followed up. Heaven & Heartbreaker. Appropriate dance songs. Sam is a serious badass in the way that she can rock combat boots at the Wicked Wolf. We are still trying to decide (lyrical interpretation and otherwise) the status of her relationship with Allistar. It seems as though there is some hostility.

Bridget, Amy, and Lauren showed up and we followed up our first song with Girls Just Want to Have Fun. A suggestion by the barkeep, Stefan. We've been going to the WW since January but just figured out the barkeeps name today. Better late than never. We had to get resourceful since he wouldn't tell us, so we asked Eugene. The song wasn't our greatest since the words were a little rusty but we danced and Brock laughed at us. He also let us in on a secret. Mark, the raspy voiced Canadian rapper has a thing for Suzanne, the German Cougar who has a thing for young Italians. In fact, they dueted to a somewhat Jamaican version of "I Got You Babe". It was totally weird, but we were laughing the whole time as they danced together with Brock in the back pushing them together and making ridiculous gestures.

Mark confessing his love to Suzanne while Allistar sings (note Allistar's hair)

Allistar took to the stage to sing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me". A dedication to his American friends. We swayed and slow danced and sang along. Follow up song, "End of the Road". The four of us swayed together, and sang to Brock and Allistar as they dueted to us. A shout out to us, and the song ended. Allistar announced his love for his American friends, gave us all hugs and kisses on the cheek.

To wrap up the evening Brock sang "All Night Long", one of his signature closing anthems. We sang with him, throwing in a "Party" "Fiesta" "Forever". Pure happiness.

We said goodbye to Stefan and Eugene, who told us to come early next week. We headed outside to talk to Brock and Allistar about next week's finale. Bittersweet for sure. We've definitely become regulars and WW staples. We thanked Brock for our drinks and headed to Supermac's with Bridget, Amy, and Lauren who were perhaps a little shocked by the fact that we know everyone by name and every one's life story. They got their food and left to go study, and the girls enjoyed their chicken strips and ketchup. Then taxi ride home. As always the driver, another Mark, was entertained by us. He however insulted us by saying we must not get out much if the Wicked Wolf is our favorite spot. It definitely has a special characteristic you can only see from the inside.

Home. Chocolate ice cream with Curry.

In the words of Brock Jones, Karaoke Master....Absolutely Fantastic Stuff.