The Makem and Spain Brothers at the Rochester Opera House
This past Saturday my wife Chris and I especially enjoyed the Makem and Spain Brothers Concert at the Rochester Opera House. They’ve been doing a special concert there for over 10 years, back to the times that father Tommy would appear with them. We were inspired to go this year, as I had seen the lads in the recording studio a few weeks earlier, when I helped then capture some video connected with a new Christmas song Mick had just written (I Heard the Bells). That helped me to see that they are sounding especially great, and to learn they’d be sprinkling in some special Christmas songs in this Saturday-after-Thanksgiving concert.
Well….we weren’t disappointed. Nice cozy theater, great sound system, and all four voices and instruments blending and ringing out beautifully all evening.
Rory (when he wasn’t playing guitar or bouzouki) played Tommy’s old banjo – which brought a bit of history and nostalgia to the stage for me. Connor does an excellent job with tasteful electric bass, and then adds a lot with concertina or whistle in some special songs or tunes. 
Mick and Liam Spain bring their super-strong voices and tasty playing, and it all works as a whole with the ‘Makem’ part of the sound you just have to sit back and say, “Wow.”
They did indeed do some Christmas songs – including the new one. That capped off the night with a holiday feel, which, now that Thanksgiving is over, we were ready to really enjoy.
If you haven’t seen them, or if it’s been awhile – I’d recommend you find a time to give a good listen. In the mean time, their new CD, “Up the Stairs” is among their very best.
Did you really think the sound was good? I thought it was terrible — the instruments were not balanced well with the voices, so that at times it was hard to hear the singing. And in general the volume was turned way too high. If I hadn’t known all the songs so well, I wouldn’t have had a good idea of what I was hearing at times, especially during the first half of the show. I loved the music, of course, but I was quite disappointed by the sound. It’s nice for a live show to sound BETTER than the recordings one has at home.
And one question: everyone in the restroom line at intermission was asking where Shane was? He seems to have absented himself from the group recently.
I guess I was too forgiving on the sound. Liam’s mike seemed low and there were other quirks. Still, I was getting enough that was good in my spot that I guess I focused on the good part. I also wondered about Shane.