Post by mott on Aug 4, 2008 16:34:07 GMT -5
As I said, the Cottars sang and played different tunes each day. Most of them were the familiar ones, like "Pat Works On the Railway", "Ready For the Storm", "I Know Who Is Sick" etc. (they did not do "The Briar and the Rose"). But they also did several songs I didn't know. I don't know if the newer songs will be on their new album, but I hope so, because they all sounded great. They performed their usual mixture of instrumentals and vocals, traditional and contemporary.
One new tune I did recognize was "23rd of June". They did it Friday, as a tribute to Tommy Makem (who had passed away exactly one year earlier). They sang it similarly to the way the Clancy Brothers & Tommy did it, all four sang a capella with one person singing and the others repeating. I really liked their version, they all sounded great together; Bruce has a pretty nice singing voice I thought.
Another new song (to me) they did was an O'Carolan tune, with Fiona on whistle and Ciaran on "harpsichord". Ciaran and Fiona sang a Chieftains Gaelic tune ("Jimmy Mó Mhíle Stór") which was very pretty. I'm sorry I wasn't able to recall the titles of many of the new songs, but they all sounded great; I don't think there was any tune or medley they did I didn't like. They didn't perform anything that was radically different from how they normally sound. Oh except Fiona and Ciaran did sing a humorous song about Nova Scotia fish. ;D
As I said though, the sound quality wasn't good on Friday. They did "Byker Hill" and Ciaran just drowned out Fiona and Claire. Same with "Hold On", which they finished Friday's set with (Bruce played a cool electric guitar lead near the end of it). Saturday they blended better, and I think everyone really liked their songs.
Claire played lots of jigs and reels, and as I said some I knew and others I didn't. One was a song she said she wrote for a friend, and it sounded great. She seemed more relaxed and had more fun than the last time I saw her, last September in Chicago. But she is pretty intense sometimes when she plays (as they all are), and I thought a couple of times she was gonna saw her fiddle in half. In fact it look like she broke her bow string Saturday, and while she was replacing it Ciaran told a joke story. I didn't get it though, until I was 20 miles outside of Waterloo, then it was "oh yeah, I get it!" Yeah I'm a little slow sometimes.
Actually they were all joking around with themselves and the audience. Even Bruce, who never says anything, gave a few witty remarks. For example, Fiona was joking that the CDs cost $20 each, but that they had a special that day, 2 for $40. Then Bruce remarked that they also accept US currency. Cute dry patter, and everyone enjoyed it.
Also Fiona mentioned she would get some sweet corn later because Iowa is famous for corn. Don't they have corn in Canada?
I did want to mention one thing that happened during Saturday's set. They were performing the Planxty jigs from the "On Fire" CD, and near the end of the second jig ("Diplodicus") Ciaran's keyboard went dead. This was important because the third jig of the group is the one Ciaran wrote, and it starts with him playing a keyboard solo for a few bars. So just before the end of Diplodicus, Ciaran raced up to Claire and whispered something to her and raced back. And when the 3rd jig started, Claire played the solo bars instead of Ciaran. Obviously Ciaran whispered to Claire to play the solo because he can't.
I brought it up because I thought that was really quick thinking on Ciaran's part, and great reaction by Claire to pick up on what was happening. If it weren't for that, we would have heard 4 bars of Ciaran playing a dead keyboard. Anyway I wanted to mention that, I thought that was a pretty sharp of them to do what they can to not ruin a tune.
So anyway, I'm very happy I made the drive from the Chicago area to Waterloo for the weekend, and I'd do it again. I enjoyed seeing the Cottars again; I wish I could see them more often than once a year, that they would do more performing in the midwest, for I do love them so. I do have one selfish regret, and that is I wish the Cottars would have known I made the 5 hour drive to Waterloo just to see them. Maybe they would have been happy to hear that not everyone who attended the shows was there because of Gaelic Storm.
One new tune I did recognize was "23rd of June". They did it Friday, as a tribute to Tommy Makem (who had passed away exactly one year earlier). They sang it similarly to the way the Clancy Brothers & Tommy did it, all four sang a capella with one person singing and the others repeating. I really liked their version, they all sounded great together; Bruce has a pretty nice singing voice I thought.
Another new song (to me) they did was an O'Carolan tune, with Fiona on whistle and Ciaran on "harpsichord". Ciaran and Fiona sang a Chieftains Gaelic tune ("Jimmy Mó Mhíle Stór") which was very pretty. I'm sorry I wasn't able to recall the titles of many of the new songs, but they all sounded great; I don't think there was any tune or medley they did I didn't like. They didn't perform anything that was radically different from how they normally sound. Oh except Fiona and Ciaran did sing a humorous song about Nova Scotia fish. ;D
As I said though, the sound quality wasn't good on Friday. They did "Byker Hill" and Ciaran just drowned out Fiona and Claire. Same with "Hold On", which they finished Friday's set with (Bruce played a cool electric guitar lead near the end of it). Saturday they blended better, and I think everyone really liked their songs.
Claire played lots of jigs and reels, and as I said some I knew and others I didn't. One was a song she said she wrote for a friend, and it sounded great. She seemed more relaxed and had more fun than the last time I saw her, last September in Chicago. But she is pretty intense sometimes when she plays (as they all are), and I thought a couple of times she was gonna saw her fiddle in half. In fact it look like she broke her bow string Saturday, and while she was replacing it Ciaran told a joke story. I didn't get it though, until I was 20 miles outside of Waterloo, then it was "oh yeah, I get it!" Yeah I'm a little slow sometimes.
Actually they were all joking around with themselves and the audience. Even Bruce, who never says anything, gave a few witty remarks. For example, Fiona was joking that the CDs cost $20 each, but that they had a special that day, 2 for $40. Then Bruce remarked that they also accept US currency. Cute dry patter, and everyone enjoyed it.
Also Fiona mentioned she would get some sweet corn later because Iowa is famous for corn. Don't they have corn in Canada?
I did want to mention one thing that happened during Saturday's set. They were performing the Planxty jigs from the "On Fire" CD, and near the end of the second jig ("Diplodicus") Ciaran's keyboard went dead. This was important because the third jig of the group is the one Ciaran wrote, and it starts with him playing a keyboard solo for a few bars. So just before the end of Diplodicus, Ciaran raced up to Claire and whispered something to her and raced back. And when the 3rd jig started, Claire played the solo bars instead of Ciaran. Obviously Ciaran whispered to Claire to play the solo because he can't.
I brought it up because I thought that was really quick thinking on Ciaran's part, and great reaction by Claire to pick up on what was happening. If it weren't for that, we would have heard 4 bars of Ciaran playing a dead keyboard. Anyway I wanted to mention that, I thought that was a pretty sharp of them to do what they can to not ruin a tune.
So anyway, I'm very happy I made the drive from the Chicago area to Waterloo for the weekend, and I'd do it again. I enjoyed seeing the Cottars again; I wish I could see them more often than once a year, that they would do more performing in the midwest, for I do love them so. I do have one selfish regret, and that is I wish the Cottars would have known I made the 5 hour drive to Waterloo just to see them. Maybe they would have been happy to hear that not everyone who attended the shows was there because of Gaelic Storm.
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