and as another weekend of the dublin irish fest has come and gone, and i try to wrap my head around all the fun things and amazing music (and musicians) that happened  over the weekend, i will try to put it all down in a few words. when dave and i got down there, the first band up was the screaming orphans (i just love that name!). when the 4 sisters get an audience going, they are incredibly fun to watch (and are extremely nice, too!) next up was scythian. i swear, if you could find some way to collect the energy they generate, there would be no use for nuclear power! these guys can get a crowd going something fierce! and throw in that pink sweater (those of you who were there know what i mean) and they just set the fashion world afire, too! scythian also had an amazing knack for bringing out the photographers! (and some damn good ones, too…TIM!!!)

next up, the prodigals, always a crowd favorite, kept the pace at a great clip, and had one of the better light shows that i have seen in the few years that i have been coming to this festival. gregory and the boys kept things moving along like a downhill car with no brakes. by the time gaelic storm hit the stage the crowd was worked up into a fevered pitch that you almost could not hear yourself think. gaelic storm played on the main stage this year, as they were only doing one night (before leaving for IOWA!), so imagine our surprise to find them at the bar at the end of the evening!!

Day 2 (Saturday)

definitely a take to take the morning easy, i finally strolled over to the festival mid afternoon to catch a great set by the young dubliners (but, then again, how could it not be a great set!) personally, i get the double bonus of them being very photogenic (evidence below and via links). after their set, it was nice hanging with jada and her bundle of joy (with hair on his head that most guys are VERY jealous of!) then i wandered over to catch a VERY pleasant surprise of the songwriters circle with gregory grene and dave fahey of the prodigals. (i say very pleasantly surprised, because it was great hearing the stories BEHIND the music!)

later in the evening, scythian wound up the crowd again, to have the prodigals bring saturday night to a great finish (at least at the festival site). NOW, onto the bar scene… TWO WORDS… JOEY KNUCKLES!!!! this was then followed by keith knuckles, so that by the end of the night, almost everybody had one name or the other across their knuckles. did we mention this was in a BAR????

Day 3 (Sunday)

okay, time to hit the great bands that i have been hearing of, but have not had a chance to see. first up, salsa celtica, a 13-piece band combining salsa and celtic music (nothing quite like conga drums horns, & a banjo!) these guys ROCKED! everything i had been hearing over the weekend was true! what was even more amazing, was that they had a fill-in violinist (daire from the band slide) who spent over 3 hours learning salsa celtica’s songs! then it was over to the stage to see another great band, slide! I don’t know how daire was able to go through ANOTHER set, but boy did he. these guys were fantastic (i’m sure aided by their really nice sound-person, chloe ).

next up for me, la bottine souriante, the other band i had been hearing great things about. well, they lived up to the hype, too, doing a great set led by the amazingly personable benoit borque and sandy silvia on “percussive dance”

for the finale, having bands with such unique backgrounds (and not all had truly “irish” in them) a little effort was needed in coming up with a song that would work for everybody. after a little work, “tell me ma” was settled on for the finale, to bring a great close to another amazing event.

for pictures from friday, go HERE

for pictures from saturday, go HERE

for pictures from sunday, go HERE