|
The Dubliners:
Lübeck, Germany - 23 November 2006
Opening the night with
instrumentals Fermoy Lassies/Sporting Paddy
There'll be no pipes and slippers for these lads just yet, I had the most
wonderful night that I could ever have imagined: I got to see THE DUBLINERS
perform at their very best in Lubeck in Germany. It made me so proud to be
Irish, to sit in the audience to hear and see the adulation, love and warmth
that the German people had for the lads. I reckon I had the best seat in
town, beside Tom the sound Engineer, smack bang in the middle of the
auditorium.(Tom, thanks, you were great company).
Barney's love song
"I Wish I Had Someone To Love Me"
Introduced by Michael, (Dubliners tour
manager, from Cavan, but originally from
Germany) The Dubliners walked out on stage to tremendous applause, cheers &
screams, I couldn't believe it, the last time I saw something like this was
old footage of the Beatles arriving in the USA. This was the response for the
next 2 hours and 40 mins, every piece of music and song was greatly
appreciated. The show started off with a couple of tunes, The Fermoy
Lassies/Sporting Paddy,
then we had a couple of songs from Sean, he sang later in the night "The Night Visiting
Song" one of my favourites of Luke Kelly's but Sean sang it brilliantly. I
hadn't heard Patsy sing since July, (I was used to hearing him sing every week) so I was really looking forward to this and I
wasn't disappointed, the unmistaken Dublin brogue the feeling and passion in
every song, sung from the heart, The Ferryman, Dublin In the Rare Auld Times,
The Red Haired Minstrel Boy and many more. Barney was his usual witty self and
is still clearly a favourite with the audience and the King of the banjo. Mr
Nimble fingers, played some rousing tunes, The Maid behind The Bar, The Boyne
Hunt, Shaskeen, and finishing it off with The High Reel, if there was an event
in the Olympics for Banjo Aerobics then Barney would bring home the gold medal
every time. What can one say about John Sheahan, just sheer brilliance, the
maestro, the warm tones of his fiddle, and whistle playing was excellent.
Closing the night
with "Molly Malone"
Earlier Patsy played a request for me as it was my birthday and THE DUBLINERS
sang Happy Birthday to me, so when John stepped up to do his party piece, he
also dedicated it to me. "St Patrick's" a beautiful piece of music
composed by himself, starts on the fiddle and finishes on the whistle, I was
transported back to the beautiful city of Dublin, Then he went into a couple of
reels, I never heard the fiddle sounds so good, I mentioned this to him later
and joked was he long practising to which he replied "only 60 years".
Now I'm not forgetting Eamonn, His guitar playing is outstanding, his backing on
all the tunes and songs was brilliant, I am now of the firm belief that Eamonn
has 10 fingers on his left hand.
Barney and Patsy have a little dance they do towards the end of
John's set of
Reels much to the amusement of their fellow musicians and the audience..
  The night drew to a close of standing ovations and encores, someone had to call
it a night and unfor- tunately The Dubliners did not appear back for the fifth
time, but even so they au- dience went home feeling happy and content and in the
knowledge that they would be back, NEXT YEAR.
 Like all trips away, it to came to an end for me as
I had to return to Dublin the next day, we had goodbyes hugs
and kisses, all round. The Lads boarded
their tour coach driven by the lovely Claudia (thanks for the pressie) and
headed off to another city and another audience, who I am sure appreciated them
as much as the people of Lubeck.
The Pipes and Slippers will have to wait.
I don't like birthdays and I forget about them as quickly as possible, but I
can assure you this is one birthday I will NEVER forget.
Written by Mandy
Byrnes
Photographs 1, 3 by
Mandy Byrnes, 2, 4, 5, 6 by Dr. Gerhard Braas.
|
