bassninja Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 We have a St Pat's night gig most years, and we have a bunch of songs we trot out once a year in its (his) honour. We always make it clear that we're a band that does [i]some[/i] Irish-y music, but that the guv'nor shouldn't expect a full nights' diddly (as it were). On the other hand, the band in question this year is a jammy/bluegrassy outfit (see my sig) that does quite a lot of pickin' on tunes that are often the Transatlantic counterpart of the Irish/Scottish/English (not so often Welsh) originals. Most times, the audience don't seem bothered at the ethnomusicological inconsistency, though. This has come about after 20 odd years of random to-ing and fro-ing in various bands, to the point where now its fairly straightforward. Since its only once a year, I've never thought to ask how other people how they approach the Great Day (or great Guinness promotion, depending on your point of view)*. * no offence, I hope, to our Irish friends. Including the group who 'persuaded' us not to play any further Irish tunes at a gig in Lewisham, since we aren't from Ireland and therefore clearly don't have the right to do so. I now understand this fully, and am very sorry. *muses*[i]I wonder how Rory Gallagher got on in Chicago...[/i] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisd24 Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 well i play with an Irish/bluegrass 3 piece, the other 2 lads i play with are cockneys strangely enough and the closest thing i am to Irish is maybe the odd baileys in some coffee! We play Irish songs all year round and never get any abuse from what is usually a mostly Irish audience....i think the main thing to bear in mind is that certain Irish "rebel" songs have there place and making sure you don't play them in the wrong ones is paramount! at the end of the day people are out on St pats night to enjoy themselves, and as long as the music and drink is flowing then everyone's happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman69 Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 * no offence, I hope, to our Irish friends. Including the group who 'persuaded' us not to play any further Irish tunes at a gig in Lewisham, since we aren't from Ireland and therefore clearly don't have the right to do so. I now understand this fully, and am very sorry. IMO you have "the right" to play any songs/genre you see fit to play.... thats like musical racism! Ok, if you play it badly you only have yourselves to blame. Have a great Paddys Day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4-string-thing Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I spent 4 years in a folk-rock band, and we used to play 2 or 3 gigs around St Pats night (usually the weekend before) We didn't play anything out of the ordinary, just our usual set of English, Irish, and Scottish songs and tunes. We used to play up the Irish bit though by wearing a bit of green and offering prizes for the best "Irish dancing" etc. We used to avoid any political songs though, stick to the cheesy stuff, I would say. Only ever had one heckler moaning about us not being Irish and apparently she used to heckle every band at that particular venue anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 We get asked every year as no one reads past the word "Ceilidh" on our website ... We are not Irish or Scots and we don't have a suitable show or set list, no really we don't. And by the way Mr Agent (for it's always a panicking agent a few weeks beforehand), we don't play St Andrews, Burns, St Davids or St Georges night either ... We got asked to play St Georges night "An English themed night" Er ... What would you play after Greensleeves and Roots? Most audiences think any diddly is Irish anyway ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassninja Posted February 19, 2010 Author Share Posted February 19, 2010 Yeah, the rebel songs angle is always best avoided completely. We had a decidedly republican audience at a (league) football club with strong links to the 'old country' back in the late 80s. They sang all the rebel songs anyway, once the evening gets 'later', and we were packing up. Really fun gig IIRC, good natured and all that. Mind you, our erstwhile agent, who is also a very funny comedian (anyone from Pompey know him?) tells a chilling story about the night he played a Sunderland club in his new black & white suit. To... Total... Silence... So its the same all over. I do, however, regret that Crass were never afforded the opportunity to play a hunt ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassninja Posted February 19, 2010 Author Share Posted February 19, 2010 [quote name='OldGit' post='750413' date='Feb 19 2010, 12:10 AM']What would you play after Greensleeves and Roots? Most audiences think any diddly is Irish anyway ...[/quote] Quite so, OG. Did you mean 'Roots' by Show of Hands? If so, good shout: it describes my feelings about our attitude to our own musical heritage pretty well, even though I find Steve K a bit annoyingly winsome at times."Its my flag too, and I want it back..." Here: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5h4PFBuzvw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5h4PFBuzvw[/url] [/back on topic] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rasher80 Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Dunno really. I think that whether you like it or not "rebel" music is an important part of Irish music. The term covers a broad base which can, depending on your interperetation, include "trad" tunes as well as more modern songs i.e. in the last 50 or so years. Personally speaking, i think the comment about rebel songs being avoided is a bit wide of the mark. It's incredibly powerful and evocative music, and IMO it shouldn't be overlooked at all. Some of it is a bit extreme, which i disagree with - but if you have an issue with it, that's your problem. If i went to see a band that wasn't completely trad, i'd feel short changed if i didn't hear ANY. I know you're only expressing your opinion which i respect though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_the_bass Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I think it depends entirely on what you think a rebel song is. Bear in mind that a lot of the political songs go back to the 16th Century pretty much up until 1969-98 and there's a lot of stuff I wouldn't play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 (edited) Whenever I've done St. Paddy's gigs, whochever band I was in has usually just hoyed a couple of diddly-diddly tunes into the set, and Fisherman's Blues by those very Irish Waterboys, and we've got away with it... Edited February 19, 2010 by wateroftyne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 [quote name='wateroftyne' post='750517' date='Feb 19 2010, 08:39 AM']Whenever I've done St. Paddy's gigs, whochever band I was in has usually just hoyed a couple of diddly-diddly tunes into the set, and Fisherman's Blues by those very Irish Waterboys, and we've got away with it...[/quote] Oh and surely 'Whiskey in the jar(o)'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodster Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I've had the same Paddy's gig, in the same venue, for the same landlord for 10 years running and we basically stick songs in the set from anyone with even a slight Irish link... As well as diddly-diddly favourites like Dirty Old Town, Lord of the dance and Mursheen Durkin, we do stuff by Saw Doctors, Van Morrison, Boomtown Rats, Thin Lizzy, U2 and The Pogues. We've also been known to slot in some Bobby O'Marley!!! Wear something green, say "to be sure" a lot and have fun!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I approach it with 9 pints of Smithwick's before shouting at the band for not playing enough rebel songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 [quote name='bassninja' post='750461' date='Feb 19 2010, 02:16 AM']Quite so, OG. Did you mean 'Roots' by Show of Hands? If so, good shout: it describes my feelings about our attitude to our own musical heritage pretty well, even though I find Steve K a bit annoyingly winsome at times."Its my flag too, and I want it back..." Here: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5h4PFBuzvw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5h4PFBuzvw[/url] [/back on topic][/quote] I did indeed. Sums up the English song heritage situation rather well (as well as the idiocy of some parliamentarians) As an expat Englishman living in Wales (and playing deps with a Welsh band) I am made aware on a regular basis that the Celts have many tunes and songs associated with their roots but we don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_the_bass Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 [quote name='woodster' post='750525' date='Feb 19 2010, 09:01 AM']....Lord of the dance.........[/quote] Which one's that Chris? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 [quote name='bassninja' post='750080' date='Feb 18 2010, 06:54 PM']The audience don't seem bothered at the ethnomusicological inconsistency, though.[/quote] Ethnomusicological inconsistency is where new ideas come from, IMO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHUFC BASS Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 [quote name='OldGit' post='750413' date='Feb 19 2010, 12:10 AM']We got asked to play St Georges night "An English themed night" Er ... What would you play after Greensleeves and Roots?[/quote] Err....how about The Who, The Jam, The Kinks, The Small Faces, The Stones, The Specials, Madness, Ian Dury...christ almighty they're all English. Why does everyone think you have to go back to Medieval times to celebrate your own culture?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodster Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 [quote name='john_the_bass' post='750581' date='Feb 19 2010, 09:58 AM']Which one's that Chris?[/quote] This one.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 [quote name='woodster' post='750656' date='Feb 19 2010, 11:01 AM']This one.... [/quote] ? That song is about as Irish as my mobile phone..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodster Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Details....details..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisd24 Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 [quote name='wateroftyne' post='750659' date='Feb 19 2010, 11:06 AM']? That song is about as Irish as my mobile phone..?[/quote] i have an O'nokia though....so now im confused! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodster Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I've got an O'phone.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_the_bass Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 An [i]oi[/i]-phone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodster Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Even better!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatback Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 [quote name='john_the_bass' post='750514' date='Feb 19 2010, 08:35 AM']I think it depends entirely on what you think a rebel song is. Bear in mind that a lot of the political songs go back to the 16th Century pretty much up until 1969-98 and there's a lot of stuff I wouldn't play.[/quote] I agree. There's old rebel music and contemporary or recent political music. 'The wearing of the green' is one thing, 'the men behind the wire' is altogether another. The first category is, I suppose historical, the last is tribal and divisive imo. Paddy's Day should be inclusive and altogether a laugh. I mean, hey, he got rid of the snakes didn't he? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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