Aspiring musician Cillian Coleman from Dunmore, Co Galway, got an early Christmas present when played backstage with his heroes, Kingfishr, earlier this month in Castlebar.
The Sound & Music student at ATU was over to England last month to watch the Munster-based indie folk outfit play in the 2,000 capacity Albert Hall in Manchester. On a whim, he cobbled together a sign that read: 'Can I play with you? I'm from Galway'.
The band apologised from the stage, saying that for insurance reasons, that was not possible. Coleman, 19, says he was made up just to get the shout-out.
"After the gig, we were hanging around and I was chatting to a security woman. I told her I was the person with the sign. She probably shouldn't have, but she let me through backstage. The band recognised me. [Lead singer] Eddie Keogh gave me his private mobile number, and said to get in touch when they were playing at the Royal in Castlebar. So I did," says Coleman.
Coleman, a singer and guitar player who plays in pubs across Galway and Mayo, arranged to meet Kingfishr at the TF Royal in Castlebar, where they played two sold-out gigs.
"It was a dream come true," says Coleman. "I got to play with them backstage, and record some video and TikToks - amazing. It was definitely an early Christmas present," he said.
