I am going to see the Chieftains tomorrow night at the Fox Theatre in Redwood City, CA. My fourth time seeing them in concert.
Thanks to Paddy Moloney and their US tour agent, I have obtained two backstage passes from their tour manager.
Paddy asked me to bring my pipes. I got to play with them in January 2001 in San Francisco. Maybe this will be number two!
I will give a full low down and review after the concert.
Cheers! Richard
Fair play Richard,
You’ll have fun.
A word of advice though. I had the same pleasure in jan '04 with the Chieftains in St. Louis but just before I walked on stage for their encore, Matt Molloy said to me, “Did Paddy tell you we’re in A 447…”
Says I, “Shight…”
I just jammed the reed as far into the socket as it could go and I got away with it.
They’re all sound lads, some are bit more road weary than others but after 40 years of it anyone would be.
Have fun!
Tommy
Well, the Chieftains were amazing as usual. They were really on and the solos were incredible! One of the best perfomances by them I have seen.
They are touring with a young group from the US called The Cottars. They were also very talented. Keep an eye on them. http://www.thecottars.com/
Memorable bits were, Matt Molloy’s version of “Easter Snow”, their playing of a Chinese tune, and Paddy Moloney messing with his reed in the middle of a tune. Amazing! He told me that it had come loose. His Rowsome pipes sounded glorious as usual.
It was amazing to hear the diversity of tunes. Seems you can play just about anything, from Classical to Chinese on uilleann pipes! Paddy also played “Women of Ireland” (mna na h’eireann) on his tin whistle as a tribute to Derek Bell. Very lovely!
Also, their new harp player, Trina, did a marvelous rendition of O’Carolan’s ““Blind Mary” and O’Carolan’s Concerto”.
We got to hang out with them for a short while after the show. They were in a bit of a rush to go as they had a show the next day in Washington. I did finally get all of their autographs on one CD!
Did you get up and play again Richard?
Actually, I did not. Paddy and I spoke before the concert and he said that he would call me up to play in the finale. That did not happen.
After the show, backstage, Paddy was quite upset with himself for forgetting to do so. He said he had my name on his list, but that he had folded it in half and totally forgot to look at my name. My pipes were in the green room just waiting too.
He felt really bad, but I told him not to worry, maybe next time. I was actually hoping that I could play a tune with him after, but they were wisked away by their tour manager so quickly that it didn’t happen.
If you ever get the chance to play with them, they play around A446 (I asked) and they always play reels at the end for the dancers. They started with “Drowsie Maggie” and then just flew off in to a bunch of other tunes that I didn’t even recognize. So…learn lots of reels!
They are the nicest bunch of folks you could hope to meet.
I was happy just to chat with them again and get their autos on my “Live in Dublin” CD.
Cheers! Richard