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The
Dublin Legends – Vicar
Street Premiere
28
December 2013
Vicar Street here we go… Lads in
excellent form and yours truly sitting too near to take pics of the
whole group (but not too near for other purposes!) Some trepidation
at the beginning – this is the first TDL gig in Dublin (excepting
the one in O’Donoghue’s in August)… How will it go? Any bets?
(Renata)
Only a few minutes into the show and Seán already looking very
satisfied with the audience. Hardly surprising really – we were
singing and clapping as if our lives depended on it! [Enid]
Legendary already, Gerry and Eamonn's fantastic tribute to Barney
– "Billy In The Low Ground / The Moving Cloud" – an
exciting mix of American bluegrass and Irish traditional. Seen many
times, yet never the same, it constantly surprises with unexpected
variations and delightful improvisations. And needless to say, Vicar
Street was no exception! [Enid]
Certainly one of the highlights in Vicar Street – and in every
Dublin Legends' concert – their rocking, rollicking, rousing,
rip-roaring, roof-raising rendition of Ewan MacColl's "Dirty
Old Town". [Enid]
Gerry tells the audience about Patrick Joseph’s story and it’s a
moving moment because Patrick Joseph’s wife and daughter are in
the audience, listening… And tonight he plays “Song for PJ”
particularly for them – although we feel it could very well fit
some poignant moment in the life of each of us… (Renata)
"'Twas the only job I knew, it was hard but never lonely..."
No, Patsy wasn't waxing autobiographical here about the life of a
musician, 'twas "The Ferryman" of course. Or perhaps he
was...? [Enid]
This rugged landscape is a metaphor for a musician who has played
more gigs and arranged and produced more records than he can
remember – and still does these things with the same concentration
and the same pleasure. (Renata)
Seán listening intently from the back of the stage as Gerry,
accompanied by Eamonn's guitar, played "a couple of tunes on
the banjo". At first just tapping the rhythm with his hand,
later stringing along with the protagonists... [Enid]
This cowboy stance of Patsy’s (he’s resting a foot on the banjo
stand) goes with the well known Australian drinking song “All For
Me Grog”. Incidentally, as a non-native speaker of English I was
convinced for a long time that the lyrics went “When I first came
ashore with me plumber” and I sometimes wondered if really there
were plumbers on ships… (Renata)
Gerry and Sean listening for their next cue, smiling as Patsy
announces the next song with an amusing anecdote. And in the
meantime Gerry very kindly obliging my waiting camera with a nice
little dance interlude. [Enid]
Seán looking slightly sad at the thought of the unhappy fate of
Molly Malone. Not for long though, no reason to be sad… when the
bet’s been won! (Renata)
"Ó ghuairm í 's guairim í go deo
Sí grá mo chroí mo bhurnín í sí Peigín Leitirmór"
I don't speak Irish, unfortunately, so unlike Patsy and Eamonn (and
Gerry too, although not visible here) I couldn't join Seán in the
chorus. You might be asking how I know all that then? Well, as Seán
would say: "I found it on Wikipedia..." [Enid]
Rewind – back towards the beginning, here’s Seán accompanying
Patsy while he’s singing “The Town I Loved So Well”. It was
easier from my angle to take photos of him while he was not singing
because the microphone stand was not in the way then. Nice close-up,
even if I say so myself (Renata)
Éamonn joins the others for the refrain of “The Black Velvet
Band”. Éamonn’s voice is rarely heard on its own, which I
personally think is a pity. Still, with so many things he has to do
on stage, we can’t expect him to sing solo as well… or can we?
It happened before… (Renata)
Yet another of Seán’s pics while he’s singing Molly Malone.
He’s looking remarkably happier – her ghost is still there after
all (and a substantial and rather risqué statue can be seen in
Dublin of course, a nice scarf could have helped stave the fever
off) and more important, the audience is sending off very
appreciative vibes. (Renata)
Gerry immersed in a purple haze – literally speaking of course!
– and seemingly oblivious to all but his fiddle and the music. Or
perhaps simply picturing those eyes that "shone like diamonds"
that Seán was just singing about...? [Enid]
A nice sepia version of the two rockers Patsy and Éamonn
during their by now super-famous version of “Dirty Old
Town”. Why sepia, you say? Well, they suddenly moved out of
the lights, or the lights didn’t follow them, and the photo
came out a bit out of focus… but you wouldn’t have thrown
it away, would you? (Renata)
"I'm dreaming of... "
Well, this was 28th December – whatever Eamonn was dreaming
of here, it wasn't a white Christmas! A pity I forgot to ask...
[Enid]
Final bars of “Molly”, I’ve already put my camera away
and I’m singing along happily … and then Seán opens his
arms to include us all in an embrace! Couldn’t miss this one!
(Renata)
A sprightly, smiling Eamonn – quite clearly in top form and
enjoying himself to the full! [Enid]
Gerry having great fun with those Fermoy Lassies – and yours
truly having great fun listening and watching! Together with
all the other clapping, cheering, foot tapping fans at Vicar
Street. But you'd better not ask me how many shots I took of
that flying fiddle to get at least one that was reasonably in
focus… [Enid]
And talking of taking photos – it proved rather difficult to
capture a decent one of Seán, sitting, as I was, right in
front of his microphone. Of course it would be far too
presumptuous on my part to think he recognised my dilemma and
helped me out now and then by stepping to the side. As in this
picture. So let's just say it was a lucky coincidence... [Enid]
“Dirty Old Town” still taking place under the stage lights,
with Patsy and Éamonn having the time of their lives (and
giving us ours). (Renata)
Emigration, an important theme in Seán's repertoire. In Vicar
Street he sang the poignant, heart-rending "Shores Of
Amerikay", a ballad that, as he told us, he had learned
from his mother. Here Gerry playing his short-but-sweet fiddle
intermezzo. [Enid]
"For the heart of the rowl is Dicey Reilly..."
It goes without saying that Eamonn wasn't the only one who
joined Patsy in the chorus here – on the contrary, it
sounded pretty much as if most of the visitors knew those
lines well too. They sang them with great gusto – and of
course we all clapped correctly and in the right places! [Enid]
Eamonn keeping an eye on the others on stage – and Barney
still keeping an eye on everything... [Enid/Renata]
Another sepia photo. Patsy’s singing “The Town I Loved So
Well” and the sepia somehow matches the mood – memories of
a town one loved and can’t recognise anymore… (Renata)
The maestro and his banjo. Always a pleasure to listen to,
always a pleasure to watch, but admittedly not always a
pleasure to take photographs of! Especially when the
photographer's hands and feet are dancing the Belfast Hornpipe
to the music... [Enid]
The sun of the audience’s approval shines on The Dublin
Legends as they proceed to treat us once again to music and
craic. This is Patsy warming us up with “Dicey Reilly” –
and very appropriately, the stage lights cooperate… (Renata)
Seán deep in thought here. No doubt simply concentrating on
playing the guitar and dancing to the music at the same time.
Or was he, after all, grieving the loss of those seven million
barrels of porter that went down with the Irish Rover? A
sobering thought indeed... [Enid/Renata]
The final stroke of their brilliant duet. With what manifest
pleasure they performed together, and how the audience loved
it! Great fun all round – both on stage and off! [Enid]
That was it – the first ever gig of The Dublin Legends at
Vicar Street! A huge success – and a great time had by all!
But was anyone seriously expecting anything else? Here's Patsy
telling us how much they've enjoyed performing and thanking us
for being such a wonderful audience. The pleasure was all ours
lads! [Enid] |
All photos
by Enid & Renata
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