The Rhythm of the Dance

My cousin Glenys and I saw this show at the weekend.  Even though I am a fan of anything Irish I've never seen any of the numerous Irish dance shows that are around and when this came to the Sands Centre in Carlisle I decided to go.

We had a lovely evening - there was even a bit of U2 in the pre-show music, With Or Without You.  What an amazing song that is.  The show was a mix of Irish dancing and singing by the three Irish tenors.  I was stunned by the dancing, it seemed like those people had no joints!  Irish dancing is different as most of the action is from the knees down.  The dancers were mostly very young and I think you have to be young to be able to dance like that!  They were supported by amazing musicians playing the Irish harp, flute, fiddle, uilleann pipes, guitar, accordian and bodhran.

There's something about Irish music that just gets your foot tapping and emotions racing.  I felt quite choked up a few times during the show, even during a song sung in Irish - I couldn't understand the lyrics but the feelings still came across nonetheless, that typical Irish bitter/sweet sadness of those far away from their place of birth.  That's what's special about Irish music, you don't have to understand the words to feel the emotions.  One song performed was Wild Mountain Thyme or Will Ye Go Lassie Go which really showed the brotherhood between the Irish and the Scots, it could easily have been a Scottish song too.There were also influences from other genres, for example Irish dance/music fused with the tango and charlton which made an interesting combination.

 This show is well worth seeing, a brilliant night out.  It seems to be touring all over so if you get the chance do go and see it.  All in all a great evening's entertainment which made me all the more impatient to get back to Ireland - but it's only three weeks until we go to Dublin, it'll be wonderful to be back in my favourite city once more!

The Super Duper Extra Exclusive Remastered Luxury Deluxe Amazing Joshua Tree

Well, ok it's the Joshua Tree (Remastered / Expanded) (Super Deluxe Edition), but I can't help but laugh at the increasingly lengthy version titles around. Normally I wouldn't buy an album I already have just because it had been remastered, but the extras on this seemed well worth forking out £22.95 for.

I only got my copy yesterday and, on the quick look I've had, it seems worth every penny. As well as the original remastered album there is a bonus CD. On this are some of the fabulous b-side gems that were really good enough to have been put on the album proper - such as the hypnotic Luminous Times and the atmospheric Walk to the Water. There are also a few songs that never saw the light of ay in the 80's but have be re-born today, such as Wave of Sorrow (Birdland) and Desert of our Love.

The DVD contains U2 Live in Paris, a show I used to have on a grainy bootleg video, I loved it, so it will be a treat to have a good quality version. The Outside it is America documentary is another great choice for inclusion on the DVD. I can remember watching that when it was first aired on TV - yikes, was it really twenty years ago???

There are also two videos on the DVD With or Without You and Red Hill Mining Town. the latter has been hidden away for twenty years and I can see why! It's hilarious! Very cheesy, with Edge and Adam lurking in the shadows sporting ultra serious expressions, Larry hitting a pipe all the way through equally seriously and Bono angst-ridden and over-acting. Not U2's best moment, but it's a great laugh!

Accompanying this is a book containing lyrics, some handwritten by Bono - I like how they have left in the bits where he scribbled out some mistakes. There are also lots of photos, many that were new to me. Also there are a few articles about the making of the album by the various people involved in the process.

Finally there are four black and white photocards that would look lovely framed. All of this is contained within a sturdy black box with the original album cover photo on the front. Everything in this Super Deluxe Edition is of excellent quality and even if you are like me and have the original album, it is really worth buying for the well-chosen extras which appeal to longtimes fans like myself as well as the new kids. I've just got to find time now to listen and watch all the goodies!

Dublin Musical Pub Crawl May 2006

My friend Debbi had recommended the Musical Pub Crawl highly so on the Thursday evening of our holiday we decided to go and sample it for ourselves. We walked to the Oliver St John Gogarty pub in Fleet Street which is the meeting place for the Pub Crawl. We went to an upstairs bar paid our money and waited for the event to start. Most of the other people going on the tour seemed to be Americans. After another rather wet day the rain had stopped and the sun had come out, as it had done on every evening of our holiday.
There were 2 musicians, Andy (who hada bit of a youthful Edge look about him) who played the fiddle and Mark who sang and played the guitar and bodhran and who did most of the talking. The first session was quite short and, as the pub had people in it who were not on the tour, it was quite noisy and it was hard to hear what was said, and even the music at times.

We then left and headed the short distance to the Ha-Penny Bridge Inn, which as the name suggests is right beside that elegant bridge over the River Liffey. Indeed you could look out of the upstairs window down onto the bridge and Dublin life streaming across it. This time we were in a room just for the session and we got a really good seat at the front.

Mark told us a little about the Inn, how it is one of only two in the city centre that hasn't had the heart ripped out of it in the name of modernisation. The only other original pub in the neighbourhood is The Palace which is also sometimes visited on this Tour. He told us about the instruments used in Irish music - the fiddle, bodhran, pipes and the new interloper, the guitar - which is frowned upon by some traditional musicians. They played a mixture of songs and instrumentals, during the latter Andy showed his amazing talent playing the fiddle. Mark got the auidience to join in with the chorus of some songs and it was great fun.

After about 50 minutes it was time to move on to the next
pub - the Exchequer Bar in Exchequer Street near Grafton Street. Again there was a room upstairs specially set aside for the Tour and again we got really good seats at the front. Mark told us about the different styles of Irish music/singing, jigs, reels, and sean nos, meaning old style, singing which is a very paticular style using the unaccompanied voice. He then sang 2 songs, one in Irish and one in English, I thought they were very beautiful and moving.

Finally near the end of the session there was the "Noble Call" for anyone from the audience to sing or play a song. An elderly American lady volunteered and sang a odd little ditty called "Detour" which everyone joined in on the catchy chorus. Then a girl (who apparently was a musician and going to a festival in Ennis the following weekend) played something on the guitar with Andy accompanying her on the fiddle.

And that was it, the end of a great night, I'd had fun and learned a lot about traditional Irish music, which I've always loved. The Musical Pub Crawl is two and a half hours long and costs 12 Euros, and is well worth the money, try it when you are next in Dublin.