I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: December 7, 2013] Danú

I received an email that RVCC was having a special concert with Danú.  I didn’t know who Danú were exactly, but the promo material said they were internationally acclaimed.  Since that could mean anything I contacted my friend Ailish who, while not being familiar with them, assured me of their bona fides.  And so, we set out for an early Irish Christmas.

And Danú did not disappoint.  There were six members on stage:

• Benny McCarthy–button accordion/melodeon.
• Dónal Clancy–guitar and storyteller (he’s the son of Liam Clancy of the Clancy Brothers and was in the band Solas).
• Oisín McAuley–fiddle
• Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh–vocals, flute and whistle.
• Éamon Doorley–bouzouki
• Martin O’Neill–bodhran and piano

The entire band was spectacular.  Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh’s voice is beautiful–a soaring, angelic sound, especially on gorgeous songs like “Silent Night” (in Irish and English) and “Le Coinnle na nAingeal.”  She even got the audience to sing along to some of the Irish words in “The Boys of Barr na Sráide” and, of course, we all chimed in on “Angels We Have Heard on High.”  But she was truly the star.  And man, she even wailed on the flute and penny whistle.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone play flute as fast as she did (she must have been breathless after those reels).  Her fingers were fascinating to watch.

Benny McCarthy plays a mean button accordion and acts as the ground of the band.  He also gave us some comic relief reading a letter from his “mother.”  He does most of the introductions and is very funny.  Oisín McAuley doesn’t say much, but wow, can he play a fast and impressive fiddle.  Dónal Clancy sang some of the other songs, including the comic “Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake” and the beautiful “A Christmas Childhood” which is a musical version of the Patrick Kavanagh poem.

Éamon Doorley played the bouzouki, although it didn’t look like a bouzouki to me, it looked a lot like a guitar.  But that’s okay, it still sounded good.

And that leaves the piano and bodhran player, Martin O’Neill. He played the piano a few times, but primarily provided rhythm, encouraging us all to clap along.  I was a little bummed because the bodhran was mixed rather low and you couldn’t always hear it (he had a very cool looking one that was much fancier than mine).  So I didn’t notice just how good he was until…he did a bodhran solo!  That’s right, a three minute or so solo showing just how amazing and how much diversity of tone you can get out of that small round goatskin instrument.  He played for a time with the tipper (a small wooden mallet), getting amazing sounds as he pressed against the skin on the other side and did triplets. Then he dropped it and played with just his bare hand.  And wow, what speed and diversity he managed to display.  I was gobsmacked.

There were also a pair of step dancers who would come out from time to time and dazzle us with their footwork.  We watched as their feet did remarkable things, presumably things that require a greater range of movement than human knees provide.  And just when it looked like he was making up what he was doing with his feet, she joined in and matched him step for step.  Amazing.  The only disappointment was that they appeared to be dancing on some sound deadeners.  Anyone who has seen step dancers live knows they make an unholy racket.  And while some sound deadening was probably necessary for us to hear the band, I was a little bummed that their shoes weren’t just a wee bit louder.  I also had to wonder if they were local dancers or if they toured with Danú.

The show was a wonderful collection of jigs and reels, super fast and high spirited (Doorley taught us how to whoop appropriately depending on which part of Ireland we were meant to be from). And some gorgeous ballads.  Muireann explained to us about St. Stephen’s Day and the hunting of the wrens, and that she and her clan of friends would go around singing songs to people on St. Stephens’s Day where drinks were provided as you went along. Sounds like quite a celebration.

If you like Irish music, this is a wonderful show to attend.  The band were exceptional and the set was simple but quite pretty.

We weren’t quite in the Christmas mood before we went to the show, but they welcomed the season in very nicely, even if it’s not the way we might typically celebrate it.  The show was so good, we bought the CD, which recreates the show pretty well (although the CD has Liam Flanagan on fiddle).

For ease of searching, I include: Danu.