Last night Lunasa came and played on the campus where I teach (all the way to our little town on the north shore). They’ve played on a couple of the Islands and have a couple more they’ll play on in a few days. I’ve listened to all sorts of Irish music on CD, but this is the first live performance I’ve been to – and, as with almost all music, real, live playing is wonderfully better. It was a great time. Most in the audience do not know much about Irish music at all, but they really responded well to the group, so much so that I think it surprized the band members and really energized the concert.
I’ve been listening to Lunasa’s recordings whenever I could to be ready for this. They played some of the old stuff and lots from their newly released CD (which I dutifully bought, along with a book that has the music/notes from their early albums 1996-2001). It was fun to hear/watch them all, but for me, of course, the biggest kick was watching Kevin Crawford (including the number he did with a Susato). Really enjoyable. I got to meet them after, get autographs, etc. They’re personable gents.
Hawaii’s a nice place to live, but we often are missed by folks like this. It was good to have them here. Maybe Cherish the Ladies will put us on their tour next year.
(Oh, and I also happened to buy a whistle for sale there—a Chieftain Low F with ‘Lunasa’ engraved on the front–couldn’t resist.)