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LIVE IN CONCERT!

YOUNG DUBLINERS

With Special Guests KELTIC COWBOYS

Reviewed By G. Horstman Cajun House Scottsdale, AZ 2/27/98

Opening to what looked like a pretty empty venue - at least in the concert area of this huge restaurant/bar/poolroom/music venue - the Tempe, AZ based "Keltic Cowboys" drew an audience to the stage almost immediately with a rousing rendition of "Bagpipe Jam." This rather large, multi-talented, crew consists of Frank Mackey - vocals/guitar/accordion/ banjo, Brian O'Carroll - vocals/guitar/accordion/bodhran/harmonica, Davidson Wuichet - Uilleann Bagpipes/mandolin/Highland Bagpipes/ vocals, Christine Hand - violin/vocals, Rich Merriman - bass/classical guitar and Tony Maslowicz - drums/percussion. Needless to say with this variety, the "Bagpipe Jam" was indeed a lively opening number that could possibly fall into the realm of an Irish Reel with a bit of rock and roll and country thrown in.

Once they had the attention of the people milling around, they immediately moved on to "Black Hole of Calcutta," a song from their self-produced, self-titled debut album. This beginning of this song sounded more like a Country/Irish drinking song, but a long drum solo accompanied by the bagpipes, brought out the Irish part of this number.

During the song, multi-colored spot lights swung in wide arcs over the band and the rest of the room. Following the instrumental interlude, it was back to a more country sound again, with the vocals more pronounced. The music was excellent, but the venue was not very good for hearing vocals unfortunately. With a very high ceiling, and flagstone and concrete floor, it was extremely difficult to understand what the words to the songs were. This band uses a lot of instrumentals, which was fine by me since they are excellent musicians. Another album number, "Richard," was next, followed by "Chisolm Trail." This song reminded me of "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" with a Celtic twist - very fast tempo with a more meloncholoy melody line. Things slowed down a bit with "Star Of The County" and "Promise Of A Better Life," the latter being mostly played with the classical guitar, violin and bagpipes.

What I would call an Irish Jig type song, "Angelique," certainly displayed the talents of violinist Christine Hand. At this point, some members of the audience thought they knew the Jig and did. This was a happy, drinking crowd intent on having fun. The song kept getting faster and faster as the dancers tried to keep up, and came to a big finish. I hope I didn't get the songs in this part of the set mixed up.

The "Keltic Cowboys" called the next number their "theme song" and I believe it was "Kiss My Irish Ass," also from the album. More country to start with, when the violin joined in it took on more of an Irish sound. This was one wild number. Lots of energy and fun. Their final number, "Hallelujuh," was plain and simple a beer drinkin' song. It was very well received and a great way to finish their set.

After a brief intermission for the usual instrument and band change, the hall was filled with the strains of a drum and bagpipe solo while strobe lights flashed and green light patterns reflected off the various screens behind and above the bandstand. Several spot lights swung in all directions, pointed at the audience, and continued as the drummer took the stage and began a solo for the rest of "The Young Dubliners" to make their entrance.

On tour promoting their new live album, "Alive, Alive 'O" (see review under NEW RELEASES in this issue), the band immediately swung into a fast paced opening number from the album, "What Do You Want From Me?" This song included great harmonies and excellent violin playing. It was even better live than the "Live" album! "The Young Dubliners" are Keith Roberts - vocals/acoustic guitar, Randy Woolford - electric guitar, Jon Mattox - drums, Brendan Holmes - bass, Jeff Dellisanti - sax/organ/flute and Mark Epting - violin/mandolin. Another band with quite a line up of instruments - especially since only the main ones are listed here. The next number reminded me of an Irish Jig, with great instrumentals and lots of lights flashing to add to the energy. A harmonica solo was added as the "rising" part of "Rising/Change The World," also on the album, switched to the vocals. At this point the area in front of the stage was packed and people were streaming into the hall from all parts of Cajun House. The "Young Dubs," as they're affectionately called, really do have a huge underground following that isn't going to stay "underground" much longer. And nobody could sit or stand still to this music either.

After some vocal exchanges with the audience, and a complaint about Arizona's liquor laws which prohibit alcohol on stage, the band moved on to "Foggy Dew," a type of Irish folk song about war with the English. Starting with just a vocal and the harmonica, the rest of the band eventually joined in with some great flute and violin solos. This was a very fast song, with very dark lyrics, and showcased the musical talent assembled on the stage. Going with more of a rock sound was "Crash and Burn." This song featured a long, excellent instrumental bridge in the middle, before returning to vocals. With a drum and bass intro and a rock beat with the Celtic twist added by the violin was a song about "Misery Loves Company." Then it was time to plug the new album and make sure everyone knew they could purchase it in the back of the hall or at their favorite music store.

One of my favorite songs, and their new single, "Blink" was up next. This is the only song on their album that was a studio cut, and the live version was outstanding. Great audience response to this one. "Don't You Worry," another more Irish folk type of song, was accompanied by some great percussion. Again Keith Roberts engaged the crowd in conversation - this time to make gentle fun of "River Dance" and Michael Flatley, then jumped off the stage to drink a quick beer. When he got back, the band into "their" version of "Riverdance/Lord Of The Dance" as an instrumental that didn't sound anything like either of these shows. But the audience didn't care. They were dancing away and having a good old time! Playing another upbeat instrumental leading into an Irish folk tune, the "Young Dubs" took a crack at putting a 70's rock kind of spn on the number with a long instrumental. The acoustic guitar came out for "Fisherman's Blues." Also on the new album, this song featured a long instrumental intro and a fabulous violin solo. "Follow Me Up To Carlow" put a lot of emphasis on the flute and instrumental solos as it related this Irish folk tale. After more give and take with the audience, a fast acoustic number called "Bitch" as near as I could tell, about an American girl who gets together with an Irish boy but soon leaves him in the dust, provided the "joke" song of the evening. It really was pretty funny the way it was presented, but always with those great instrumentals. And on that note, "Young Dubs" left the stage.

Of course no band leaves the stage without coming back for an encore or two, and after attending so many concerts I know it's not over until the house lights come up. This band didn't wait to long to come back. After only a few minutes the drum and pip intro sounded again and the strobes and spot lights were going hot and heavy.

The first song they returned to the stage with is also the first track on the new album, "One And Only." This song, about child sexual abuse by the father, is so well done on the album, I didn't think it could be improved upon. I was wrong. This subject and song is taken very seriously by "The Young Dubliners," and the emotion coming from the stage was unbelievable. There was also great lighting - very similar to what "Aerosmith" uses when they perform "Janie's Got A Gun."

To wrap things up was an Irish Jig, "The Rocky Road To Dublin." Another long instrumental intro with the flute the most prominent led into the vocal portion of the song. There was a lot of action happening on the stage by this time, and a whole bunch of dancing going on in the audience. A great instrumental interlude right before repeating the vocal chorus even had me standing and wising I could dance. All too soon the song, and the show, came to an end and we rocketed out of their to beat the crowd. Still, it was a really fun evening with some great music, great lighting and two very enjoyable bands.

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