Has anybody else heard of them? A friend lent me a concert DVD of theirs, just because I thought it looked interesting, and they are AWESOME. They’re kind of in the vein of Eileen Ivers and the like, in that they take the violin and use it to produce music from many cultures. There was jazz, Calypso, Irish Trad, Latin, country, you name it. A couple brass Generations (I believe–it was hard to tell) made an appearance. My favorite part was when one guy with a bow in each hand stood between two other people holding fiddles, and went back and forth between the two instruments while the other people pressed down the strings! And one song called “Until we meet again” gave me chills. A really great group! Check them out at www.barrage.org
And the kicker: I went to the tours section of their website and saw that they were in my town, literally 15 minutes away, YESTERDAY. Not that I could have gone because I had my own show, but still!!
I saw them on TV. Incredi-freaking-amazing, and not one uglie amongst them. I was sure they weren’t for real, but a friend from Canada assured me that this kind of fiddling is very common there, that the bar is set very high: you can’t just play the fiddle, but you have to be able to do it while at the same time eating fire sticks and juggling balls and dancing the Macarena.
Believe me, they are definitely for real! I’ve seen them live twice so far and won’t let them come to my area without seeing them again. Without a doubt, the best stage show I’ve ever seen (though that’s not saying much s I haven’t seen too many ).
If anyone gets a chance to see them live I highly recommend you go for it. I’ve seen the DVD and as good as it is, it doesn’t do them justice.
It’s more of a visual spectacle. Think Riverdance on steroids with everybody playing fiddle while they dance, and occasionally juggling their fiddles as well.
Well, they didn’t quite go THAT all-out on the DVD.. there was some Irish dancing though. (Interesting in the heels some of them were wearing!)
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