òran mór

After we’d already planned our May trip to Ireland we learned that the Fleadh Nua was on that week in Ennis, and that the Chieftains would be playing their first-ever concert in Ennis at St. Peter and St. Paul’s Cathedral – about a one-minute walk from our B&B.  Sometimes you gets lucky.

We arrived a bit early, and got to watch their setup and sound check, and then found our way to some excellent seats for the show.  The opening band, ‘F0olin’ in Doolin’ was great, and besides some energetic jigs and reels, their bouzouki-based arrangement of the  The Longford Weaver inspired my first  thievery(of a song) on this trip (but that’s a story for another post).

As it was our first time seeing the Chieftains in concert, I can’t compare this one with their other incarnations, but we really loved the mix of tunes, stories, and dance.  While Seán Keane is still the main fiddler, he is joined by Jon Pilatzke, who adds some great chair dancing to his fiery bowing.  Then, to bring things over the top, Jon’s brother Nathan, and Cara Butler come out from time to time to dance in wild style.  As there was no open ban on photograph, we were able to capture  these shots (Chris got the best  and first one here, of Matt Malloy).  Also caught this little clip of the chair dancing and mixed Irish and French Canadian folk dance.

All in all a great night – full of inspiration that I can bring back to our session the many fun musical events we all have back home.