I attended the Chieftains concert at Stanford Memorial Theatre last Saturday night, January 24, 2004. They were in great form. One of the best I have seen them.
They have a new haprist with them as well. She is a young woman from Ireland who plays harp and electronic keyboards with them. She did a stunning solo piece on the harp. A very nice addition since Derek’s passing. Paddy played a new slow air on the whistle that he had written for Derek. It was beautiful!
After the show I was able to attend their private reception and chat with them a bit. I spent most of my time with Paddy. He was playing his Leo Rowsome full set as usual. I asked him about his new Seth Gallagher set and and said that he had been having difficulties with the reeds. He said that he had them mostly worked out now and hoped to be using them soon.
He also told me that Laim O’Fynn’s wife is recovering well after her accident last year.
The first thing he asked me was why I didn’t play with them! I said because I wasn’t really able to convince their road manager to let me backstage during their intermission so we could set it up. I had even brought my full set with me just in case. I had played with them in San Francisco in 2001.
Oh well…now I know how to bypass their manager. I got Paddy’s autograph (the only one I was missing because he was ill the last time I saw him and left immediately after the concert), and had a lovely time drinking Guinness and cake with them all.
Be sure not to miss them if they come your way. Still the best trad group after 30 years!
Yeah, I had troubles with the guy in Denver several years back too…but this time I mentioned the whole Gallagher chanter fiasco to him and he seemed quite willing to work with the locals and get them on stage for the encore. I think part of your difficulties may have come from waiting till intermission. We were told to be there at the sound check before the concert so we could go over tunes and also so they could type up a quick sheet with our names on it so Paddy could announce us onstage.
At the KRCL radio braodcast:
And joining in for the encore at Kingsbury Hall (stuck behind the music stand!):
I did arrive for the 6pm sound check, but I was refused entry. This actually angered Paddy a bit that I was not allowed in for the sound check. I guess I need to be a little more agressive next time. Live and learn!
I can’t imagine that their ROAD manager wouldn’t let you in - - it’s been a practice of theirs for years to bring locals/amateurs up for the encore set. Perhaps it was a clueless local manager - i.e., the theater manager?
Mike is their current ‘manager’, and as I recall, he’s the same guy who was with them two years ago in Denver too. He didn’t seem to have any troubles with the bunch of us here in Salt Lake (6 of us total)…but I don’t know if circumstances were different in CA than they were here or not.
I still have Paddy’s cell phone number if ya want to call him and let him know what you think of his manager!
The tionól went off very well on the whole, though for our next meeting I think we’ll plan things just a touch differently. Everyone was in top form, and Bill’s classes were extremely well received by all. His reed making was especially eye opening. We have lots of photos from the event which I’ll be posting to the site over the next few weeks as time allows.
If anyone is interested, I took a photo of the chanter Seth sent out and Paddy played for portions of the show here in Salt Lake. From left to right, the image shows:
O’Riordan ‘D’ Concert whistle in kingwood/brass.
O’Riordan ‘C’ Concert whsitle in kingwood/brass.
Seth Gallagher ‘D’ chanter in ebony/brass. (This was Paddy’s stick)
Daye ‘D’ penny chanter in kingwood?/brass
Daye ‘D’ penny chanter in delrin/brass.
And for any who weren’t able to make it out to the Salt Lake tionól, we ate well. VERY well! Take a look at one of the dishes prepared for the evening:
Finally, yet another reason why you should NEVER put an uilleann piper in a room with a gas oven AND a lighter!
