We took the family to the Lunasa concert at the Coronado Theater, in Rockford, Illinois, last Saturday, and I thought to offer a review of the performance for those who may be interested. Obviously, my impressions are entirely subjective and I’m sure there are those who may not agree with my assessment. That’s as it should be.
The Coronado is worth going to see in its own right, let alone the concert. The decor seems to date from the early 1900s, and is heavily ornate. It is perhaps easiest to think of it as an enhusiastic re-interpretation of rococo. There are statues of Venus rising from the sea, cockel-shell and all, and the walls are done in shades of gold dripping with decoration. The chandeliers have to be seen to be believed: ‘Georgeous’ somehow doesn’t quite say it, though they are by no means graceful. There is an abundance of crystal and stained glass. The auditorium is intended to give the impression of being out-of-doors, complete with twinkling stars in the ceiling. It has faux buildings lit within and without along the walls to heighten the effect, and away from the arch of the stage this decoration is markedly asymmetric. The special boxes are integral with this ‘building’ impression, and the occupants look out through ‘windows’ in the facade. I found the place to be endlessly fascinating.
The musicians are excellent as individuals, but I found the band to be unexceptional for reasons that will be clearer below. There are five members of the group, but I can remember only one name – that of Cillian Vallely – as I write. He, of course, is the uillean piper, and also plays whistle. The others include a flautist/whistler, a fiddler/whistler, a guitarist, and an electric bass player ( bowed, fretless ). Because it is an electric bass there is only the neck without a sound chamber – which I found mildly disconcerting. I referred to it as a “disembodied bass” because it gives the unsettling impression that something vital is missing.
The music had a sameness to it as the evening progressed, in part because the band lacks a vocalist to add variety, but there was more. I couldn’t quite put my finger on the problem until it came time for the encore and the piper returned to do a solo slow air ( … if that’s not redundant ). I turned to my wife and said “this is the best we’ve heard all evening.” As he finished the piece, which was excellent, the flautist and the fiddler came out and joined in a faster piece. The music continued wonderful, lively, lilting, well-defined. Then the guitarist and the bassist joined in and it all went muddy again. The guitar is an amplified acoustical instrument, played loud, aggressively, with a driving beat, and it washes the character out of the tunes. The base is also played relatively loudly, and between the two of them they aren’t helping – in my humble opinion. Unfortunately, the guitarist is also the group’s composer so I can’t imagine there will be much of a change coming, but they really should turn his volume down.
It was quite worth the trip and the price of admission, but we obviously didn’t find them to be as exciting as other groups we’ve seen.
My only comfort is that the bodhran players are always really bad whistlers…