Starring
Hal Ketchum (the hero)
The Promoter (the bad guy)
The Bodyguard (the scary guy)
Brian (DH) (moral supporter)
Eileen and Anne (damsels in distress)
In this story, as I don’t type too quickly, P stands for Promoter, B for Brian, E for Eileen and Hal for Hal Ketchum!!
Saturday night was the Hal Ketchum concert but as you probably know I didn't get
............... but on Saturday I did actually get to see him but I didn't know it at the time!! B and myself went for a short drive around the town and as we driving past the Marine Hotel corner I noticed a man with longish hair, wearing a denim jacket and jeans and he was talking into a mobile phone. We went around to the seafront and came back again and the man was still there. I looked at him again and I said to B "That looks like Hal Ketchum! ..... turn at the roundabout and go back!" ...... so we did and I had another look and we drove to the seafront and turned and came back again and he was still there and I still thought it looked like him ...... but I wasn't sure. I had never seen him before except for photographs. When we got home I showed B a picture of him and he said that looked like him.
I immediately sent my friend, E, a text message saying that I thought I had seen Hal Ketchum and she phoned me back and asked if I wanted to go down to the Marine to see if it was him ...... so we did. We went into the hotel and asked the receptionist if he had been there and she said that he had stayed the night there and had just left!!
So we drove about the town for a bit looking out for him but we never saw him again.
I thought ...... how weird is this ...... driving around our wee town looking for Hal Ketchum!!Why oh why did I not have my camera with me at the time??
On Sunday morning E phoned me and said that she and her hubby had just driven past the Marine Hotel and Hal was sitting a the corner window with P. E and her hubby were going to a restaurant for lunch and I knew she weuld not be free for sometime so I asked B if he would drive me down past the Marine and I would take my digital camera and take a little movie as we drove round the Marine corner. B was washing the car at the time and I expected him to say “ Catch yourself on woman and have a bit of sense!” but he said OK!
We set sail and I started my movie just as we were approaching the Marine corner. We drove round it and there was no sign of Hal at the window and B said he’s not there so I stopped the camera and just as I did we drove past this car and I looked at it and there was Hal sitting in the passenger side with the window rolled down and he was looking at me ( probably thinking “why is this silly woman holding up a camera?”) I could have reached out and touched him! I could have kicked myself for stopping the camera at that point!!
So I said to B ……. let’s go to P’s house and see if they went there so we set off. We came to P’s house and the car was there but there was no-one in it. B drove on a bit and turned to came back and this time they were in the car. B stopped the car and said “Get out and take your camera!” I walked over to Hal’s side and said “ I have been searching Ballycastle all morning for Hal Ketchum!” I shook hands with him and asked him if I could take a picture and a little movie for my friend in America. So he got out of the car and I got my camera ready. By this time B was out of the car which I was really surprised at…… wellie boots and all …… well he had been washing the car and doing a bit of gardening when I took him away on this adventure!
Hal went over to B and shook his hand and then turned to me. I asked him if he would say Hello to Connie for me and he said
“Hey Connie ………. how are you ……….just waking up here in Ballycastle ……… missing you ……….(at this point he runs his fingers through his hair and I am thinking “Is there something going on here that I don’t know about?”) ….. hope you are well ……..”
By this time his bodyguard was out of the car. Hal asked if I wanted my picture taken with him (Hal not the bodyguard) so I didn’t want to hurt his feelings by saying No ……… so I said Yes Pleeeeeeze! ….. and anyway I was kinda scared of the bodyguard! So the bodyguard took a picture of Hal and myself and then they went on their way and I went home with B.
I couldn’t wait to get home to look at the picture and the movies but I had my eyes closed in the picture …… well at that stage I was in Heaven!! …… so what do you expect!
Just then E phoned me and I told her what had happened and she was so disappointed at not getting to meet him. So she said she was going to go down to the Marine to find out if he would be coming back that night. She did but the receptionist was not allowed to say so I said I would ring P and ask him. I phoned P on his mobile and asked him if Hal would be back at the Marine that evening. He said they had a busy day ahead and if I was to ring at 7pm he could tell me more. I rang at 7.15pm and he said they were still quite a bit away and would not be at the Marine until very late. I asked him if my friend and myself could see him at sometime on Monday just to get our cd’s signed and a photograph. He said they were leaving the Marine at 3pm Mon so if we could come down at 2.45 he would arrange for the autographs and photographs.
On Monday at about midday I was with Orla in the car ............. she was going to leave something down at the little pub where she works ........ and as we passed the Marine corner ...... guess who was sitting at the window seat all on his own! ........... for all to see ........ not hiding away .......... very few people in Ballycastle know who he is! ........ I think it is just E and myself! ....... what a chance that was ....... but E was at work and I did not want to be approaching him myself without her again as she was the one who now wanted to meet him. When I got home I phoned her anyway and she said we should check with the Marine before we went down just to make sure he was still sitting there and we did but he was not.
Orla works in a little pub near the Marine Hotel and although she was not working on Sat night (the night of the concert) one of her workmates told her that P and "some American" had been knocking at the door at 2.30 AM. very drunk trying to get in and she told them " No, you are not getting in" Orla said to her workmate"That would have been Hal Ketchum" and the other girl said "Who's Hal Ketchum?"
Anyway E and myself went down 15 mins early on Monday and just as we were coming to the Marine E said "there they are" ........ we had just met them driving away! ........ but we were not beaten! We went into the Marine just to check that they were definately away and they were so E immediately phoned P and very assertively told him that we had been at the Marine early to wait for the autographs from Hal and we were very disappointed that they had gone early. So P said we could come up to his house for the autographs and photographs. We went to his house and I parked my car in front of the drive (just in case they tried to escape). We knocked on the door and P, looking grumpy, came to the door and asked us to just wait there and they would be out soon. We thought that was very rude asking us to wait outside. He could have at least asked us to wait in the hall!! We waited about 5 mins and then they all came out……… P still looked grumpy ……. I think he was just jealous that Hal was getting all the attention! ……… Hal looked gorgeous!
We got our photographs taken and our cd’s signed. The bodyguard was standing beside me and I asked him “Are you the bodyguard?” …… well if he wasn’t then I was going to grab Hal and run off with him! The bodyguard said “Yip” and E said to Hal “Can I be your bodyguard?” Hal opened his jacket a bit and said “There’s not much left of me to guard” P still looked grumpy!
When I was gettimg my cd cover signed, the one that has the self-portrait of Hal on it, (thanks Connie for that tip) E said to Hal “We are artists too” and the bodyguard said “Hal did that picture” E said “we know ……that is why Anne took that one down".
P still looked grumpy so we said our goodbyes and let them go on their way. They were heading off to do the show in Letterkenny that night and soon Hal goes to Scotland for a show there. I am actually glad Hal has left Ballycastle as I have been so unsettled since I first saw him on Saturday! …… although he does come back to Northern Ireland for some more shows after Scotland. They are quite a bit from Ballycastle so he will probably be staying nearer the venue ……… but I will still keep an eye on that window seat at the Marine Hotel ………. just in case …….
Now for a little bit of useless information ……. When I first phoned Grumpy P on his mobile he asked me “How did you get this number?” I said “from your website” E was saying last night that she went to his website yesterday and it said it was Under Construction …… so we are assuming that after this weekend he will be taking his mobile number off the website …… but we still have it …….
So here are a couple of pictures
:
.............. and catching ............
...........Hal Ketchum in Ballycastle over the weekend that did it ...... 
and haven't been anywhere except to work, gym and home, 
It's all work at the moment.
with a very hoarse throat - I did not recognize him. So you see... I am a HalGal through and through. LOVE HIM...!!! 
I have heard Hal has a larger audience there, than he attracts here. He really does not attract 'the masses' any longer. This works just fine for me, I like the smaller venues, and the calm atmosphere as I enjoy his "Every Little Word".