Musicians Insult Each Other By Jonathan Coombs

                Set aside the Guinness and pay up the tab, as drinking is no longer the only Irish experience in the States. A cheerful band by the name of Danú spent an evening in the Shalin Liu Performance Center playing Irish folk music and exchanging insults to each other. The band has been together for 20 years, creating a delightful chemistry between the members. The band plays all things Irish, ranging from fast jigs to slow emotional ballets.

                Before going to see the concert, I thought that the concert was going to be entirely jigs and up tempo songs to dance to. This can be attributed to the veritable clichés given to the genre from American television and radio, a culture that I grew up well versed in. This does not mean I thought I was going to have a bad time, on the contrary I was looking forward to it. During the concert the jigs did not disappoint, with the band having energy, the crowd clapping along and the intensity of the fiddler. I say that last one not to mean that the fiddler was the only one intensely playing, as all the band members were, just he was the only one that reached a point where part of his instrument broke. He was playing and having a wonderful time when the hairs of his bow started to come undone. This was a non-issue and did not affect his playing.

                While the jigs did seem to be the main crowd pleaser, the concert had other aspects. There were slow songs that had vocals, there were quicker songs that had vocals, and there were a mix of instrumental slow/moderate tempo songs. Out of these the most memorable song was a song about Willy Crotty, a Robin Hood type of man who was executed. This song stays in mind because it was an example of the band involving the audience, as the guitarist/vocalist taught the chorus to the crowd so we could sing along. I’d like to bring up the chemistry between the band members again, in sake of the title of this review. The band had some playful fun by insulting each other and themselves on stage. From talking about their instruments to announcing the intermission there always seemed time to make a joke about someone in the group. The best example is when Oisin McAuley, the banjo player, started describing the uilleann bagpipes. He asked the crowd if people were familiar with the instrument and a few people started clapping. Without pausing he said “Those who are clapping clearly never heard it.”

Right?

Get it?

Maybe you had to be there, I don’t know. If you’re a musician like me you’ll get it.

At the end of the day the question is: is it good? YES! IT IS VERY VERY very VERY GOOD! The only reason I think someone wouldn’t like it is if they don’t like music at all or are just unable to move outside of their preffered genre. But the energy the band has on stage, the tone they set with each other, and the way they get a crowd cheering speaks for itself.

Rating: 10 acoustic guitars out of 10, because even though it seems like a lot it’s just awesome.