Has anyone else had issues running traditional Irish music sessions in McDonald’s. They are the perfect venue, smoke free, air condition and good food at hand. Although they allow students to study, they seem to draw the line at music sessions. Is this a problem elsewhere or only here in Singapore !
“good food”?
I’d be burgered if I’d turn up at a session in a MacDonald’s. I wouldn’t relish that at all. A side from anything else, I’d be worried that my rolls would go all flabby and limp.
I had no problem last year in Groton, MA, Fiddle Hell. at the fast food mall. Me, two other fiddlers and a guitarist. Played for about an hour, and took the remaining food back to the hotel and heated it up 🙂
The acoustics might be better than most pubs, and no beer at all is probably better than the chilled bubbly wee-wee that passes for beer here in Australia.
No beer ? what McDonald’s do you go to ?
McDonalds is not a place of music, only heart attacks, high cholesteral, and yucky feelings in your stomach.
No! I won’t have it! McDonalds are the perfect places when you need to take a Mcsh*t!
You have to admit they have good fries though.
I’ve never been to a McSession myself, but it sounds like the kind of place where I could finally break out ‘The Irish Washerwoman’.
“You have to admit they have good fries though.”
If you really like greasy sticks of strangely tasteless deep-fried cardboard.
Waiter, there’s a MacFly in my fries.
Do the MacDonald’s in Singapore serve alcohol?
The answer seems to be, ‘NO!’.
http://www.mcdelivery.com.sg/McDelivery/Menu_Beverages.jsf
Bad idea for a session then. Go and live somewhere more civilized.
the mind boggles - is this a future of Irish trad!
From what I’ve heard about Singapore is that you can bearly fart without facing a firing squad. Therefore I expect diddley is illegal just for being enjoyable.(at least as enjoyable as farting anyway)
…barely…
…unless you do it in the woods.
McDonalds has to draw the line at live music because overseas they also function as the American Embassy.
i heard that in your average fast-food burger, there are about one thousand different cows.
NO KIDDING
I don’r see how you can get your instruments in with all that fixed seating.
Why are we assuming the OP is talking about the fastfood chain? It could be the name of a pub that serves food, you know.
Can’t say that I have eaten a burger at a US McDonald’s in years.
But the Irish folks don’t realize how good their McDonalds food is, or maybe how bad the McDonlads food in the US is.
We stopped at the McDonalds in Galway before going to a performance at the Black Box Theater over on Dyke Road. No one had eaten so we want to the McD’s. Burgers were great. The fries tasted like the ones we used to get before US McD’s reformulated and the Cokes were made with real honest-to-God cans sugar, not the high fructose corn syrup c**p sold in the states.
our adult kids who are regulars at McD’s were blown away. Best double cheeseburger I had in years (probably no ‘pink slime’ allowed in the ground beef as was allowed by the US government)
honest-to-God can sugar
“not the high fructose corn syrup c**p sold in the states.”
not for long if you live in NY!
Sugar in the US is governed by a legal ‘sugar monopoly’ which is allowed by the government to keep costs and profits from sugar artificially high (goes back to the 1900s robber barons) and support high prices for corn by shifting food and beverage makers to use high fructose corn syrup made by the powerful corn lobby.
Not Government by the people for the people. Government for the benefit of the big corporations and business interests.
DS…Bordentown? one of my favorite little towns.
Just wait until Coke and the Koch brothers get involved. The Roberts Supreme Court will overturn the New York soda law in a heartbeat and probably make consumption of a gallon of high fructose corn syrup a day the law of the land.
If you look for it - you can find bottles of Sugar Coke. Oh boy the childhood memories come rushing back.
Does anyone remember when McDonald’s sued the Scottish bedding company over the name McSleep?
If my memory serves me correctly, some years ago there was a sole trader in Scotland who ran a small burger bar. His name was McDonald, so naturally he had his name on a signboard outside his premises.
Then McDonalds got to hear of it, and threatened to take him to court if he didn’t remove his sign. He probably would have won the case, but worried that he might be up against corporate lawyers fielded by McDonalds, lose the case, and be hit with enourmous costs, he decided not to risk it and he removed the sign.
So that’s reason enough not to patronise any large corporate that employs bullying tactics.
Under UK law, if it says “chips” on the menu the chips must be made from potatoes.
However, if it says “fries” on the menu, they can be made from soya (cheaper).
And what does it say on MacDonald’s menus? “Fries.”
So that’s another reason not to patronise them. Not for a session - nor for anything else.
It’s like the tale that Ian McCalman used to relate.
A couple of American tourists are driving around Glencoe one evening trying to find some fast food. No joy. Then they see a local walking down the street in Glencoe village. They stop and ask the guy “hey, are there any McDonalds round here?”.
The villager gives a sigh and shakes his head. “Not any more”.
Many years ago, some local musicians and myself accepted the job of playing tunes for McDonalds Corp. execs at their St. Patrick’s Day hospitality suite reception in San Francisco. while not wishing to compare our music with the duet of Carroll & Doyle -- I can say our music wasn’t so very bad either -- but the reception we got was prety much what Carroll & Doyle got when they played at the White House. (See youtube clip)When we took our break in the kitchen, we also played for the kitchen staff at their request. That’s when the evening got fun, if only for a little while.
Mix O’Lydian, that MacDonald couple won the case, the judge ruled (a scottish judge I may add) that “McDonalds” couldn’t copy right a family name.
There’s old Rex Bell in Galveston who accidentally blended “shiner boc” and “lone star” (texan export and lager, respectively) and served it to a customer in his “old quarter acoustic cafe”. The customer loved it and it became a popular drink. So Rex decided to register the name and have the brewery deliver it pre blended, he called it; Star Boc.
It didn’t take long for starbucks legal shysters to pick up on it and start threatening legal action. The wagons were pulled into a circle and the battle commenced.
Rex (and half the texan judiciary) was still fighting it last time I saw him. I must try and find out how he got on. Great stuff the Star Boc :~)
High fructose corn syup makes you stupid:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120515150938.htm
i had a session with some mates in a Supermac’s in Limerick at stupid o clock at night. was fun
I get it! If you’re planning a trip to Singapore, or wherever, why bother asking online where the sessions are? Just go to your destination & remember, it’s a good time for the great tunes of McDonald’s.
Solidmahog: “Mix O’Lydian, that MacDonald couple won the case”
That must have been a different occurence. The one I was talking about didn’t even get to court.
The law in England and Wales is the same - no-one can stop you using your own name on your business premises.
However, it’s not quite that simple.
For example, if your signboard used exactly the same typeface and colour as used by the McDonalds corporation, you would probably lose the case.
“High fructose corn syup makes you stupid:”
Is there any reason to think that the result would have been any different with cane sugar?
I am surprised that this thread has gone on so long--but then again, everyone knows that an Irish music discussion board is the go-to source for nutritional advice…
Yeah, I come here mainly for the nutritional advice and bodhran jokes.