'The Parting'- Launch of Patrick Stack Poetry Collection at Glór

Poets Patrick Stack and Kate O Shea 

I was sorry to miss this event featuring local poet Patrick Stack. Thanks to my guest blogger who captures the atmosphere in this report. I look forward to reading the poems in The Parting The Clare Three Legged Stool Poetry Group meet on the third Saturday afternoon of each month in Glor, Ennis. 

Patrick Stack Book Launch  April 20^th, 2013

Glór Theatre 2 in Ennis was the scene of the launch of “The Parting”, a collection of poetry by Patrick Stack, a Kerryman living in Kilmaley.  This is Stack’s, first collection and it showcases poems written over the past 30 years.  He is a member of the Clare Three-Legged Stool Poets and many comrades- in- poetry were on hand to celebrate with him, among them Brian Mooney, Paul Saalbach, Kate O’Shea, Mike Douse and Martin Vernon.

A nice buzz prevailed as people gathered in the foyer of Glór at three o’clock and Patrick was kept busy signing copies of his book. Wife Anna Marques Stack, daughter Deirdre and son Naoise greeted the crowd. Everyone then moved into Theatre 2 to music provided by piper Andrew Newland with Róisín on fiddle.

Keynote speaker for the launch was poet and novelist Fred Johnston, director of the Western Writers’ Centre in Galway. He spoke of the “violence of silence” in our time, where no one is willing to speak out, to tackle political issues, because of the “innate Irish terror of authority”. However, “there is nothing silent about Patrick Stack”, according to Johnston, “He is dangerous in our time”. Stack’s poetry speaks its mind and invites reaction. He rails against censorship and economic misery, and “a whole world that refuses to say anything”.  

Patrick then read a number of poems from his collection, giving their background stories. A talented linguist, his poetry features English, Irish, Portuguese and Krio Rap from Sierra Leone. The subject matter of his poems ranges from life in his childhood home in Kerry to the Lisbon Underground to a “non-experience” in a bar in Majorca and beyond. This collection provides the reader with a pot pourri of varied experiences, couched in rich language and vivid imagery - plenty of food for thought provoked by this newly published poet.

“The Parting” is published by AmethystDragon Archives and retails at 10 euro.

Written by guest blogger Cinnamon. 

Blaze Away at Glór

'My name is Josef Locke
God bless all here and state your pleasure

If you'll refill my glass I'll sing Ave Maria
I'll sing The Old Bog Road or A Shawl of Galway Grey

And I've been gone from you for some while
Those English tax men they've cramped my style

And if you think I'm some fraud upstart
Just let my voice be my calling card

It melted hearts, and royal teardrops fell
They loved me well, they loved me well

..................

                                               Richard Thompson

Late Late Tribute Show 1984

Folk singer, Martin Carty in a recent memorable Desert Island Discs interview told a terrific yarn about an encounter with the tenor Josef Locke, immortalised in lines of a song by Richard Thompson quoted above.Most people of my generation have come to know something of the legendary  tenor  through the 1991 film Hear My Song but my first memory of hearing the Derry man  was on a Late Late tribute show in 1984 when he sang Phil Coulter's bitter sweet paean to their home town as I had never heard it sung before and it remains for me the definitive version of the song.  

   http://youtu.be/DxX6z7R9PSw My Name is Josef Locke sung by Norma Waterson 

Gumbleton Productions brought their ribute show 'Blaze Away '  devised and directed by Cathal McCabe chronicling the life of Josef Locke in song to Glór, Ennis tonight.  A team of five performers included musical director Michael Casey at the keyboard, Frank Ryan tenor, soprano Linda Kenny, actors Kevin Hough and Joe O Gorman.  The plot device is a sort of surreal version of This is Your Life with a ghost of Josef Locke played by O Gorman  looking on and commenting on Kevin Hough's warts and all narration of the story of his life punctuated with songs from Kenny and Ryan and occasionally O Gorman. The approach was not unlike that of When Jolie met Christy with a character from beyond the grave interacting with an earth bound narrator.  I love this sentimental repertoire of parlour songs and light operatic gems and enjoyed this  production.  A particular strength was the skilful support on piano by Michael Casey always sympathetic and never overpowering. I was baffled then as to why backing tracks were used for several of the numbers particularly for Ms Kenny's selections.  Even with a lesser accompanist than one of Mr Casey's skill, I felt  live accompaniment would have  served the singers  better.  

Given the element of nostalgia in the endeavour,  it would have enhanced the production to have some archive images of Locke ,  memorabilia  of the Blackpool years etc. projected behind the performers to add  to  the narrative. Fashionistas will particular enjoy Ms Kenny's gorgeous stage wardrobe in glittering colours. 
There are a few more dates on the tour. Watch out for them  Well worth seeing.

Cast Blaze Away 

A sweeter age it was that loved me well
They loved me well'   R Thompson 

Venue Note Glór  stage is a very large space and I would rather  have seen the performers placed on the floor closer to their audience  to create a more intimate cabaret setting and better establish the rapport with the audience. 


Set List 
Ritorna a Sorrento                         Blaze Away
Toselli's Serenade                         Glocca Mara
Lili Marlene                                   Hear My Song
Love's Last Word is Spoken           Bless This House 
O Mio Babino Caro                        Harbour Lights 
M'Appari                                       I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen
Will You Remember(Sweetheart)    Lover Come Back to Me 
The Lights of Home                       Everybody Loves a Lover 
Now is the Hour                            Old Bog Road
Le Reve Passe                              Yours 
                                                    Santa Lucia
                                                    The Rest of the World Go By
                                                    The Town I Loved So Well
                                                    Goodbye White Horse Inn 

A Sing Along with the Speks: Live in Ennis

I caught up with The Speks in Ennis where they entertained a family audience  as part of the St Patrick's Day festivities at Glor. The  'boy band'  dressed in primary colours and wearing wigs were quite at home on the big stage and looked like they were enjoying themselves as much as their young listeners. The charming set of favourite childrens' songs and nursery rhymes familiar to all ages were peppered with interludes of Irish dance tunes performed on traditional instruments. I particularly liked  Miss Molly Had a Dolly, given a distinctly Irish makeover when fused with the hornpipe the Beggerman. A key feature was the addition of  simple ostinatos to encourage audience participation.  More colour was added via illustrations of the rhymes projected on the backdrop screen and there was a range of nicely produced books and cds available in the foyer.

I spoke to Quince Spek,  aka Paul Quin in the bustling foyer following the gig and he told me that some of the band are together since their school days and acknowledged the influence of one of their school teachers in developing their style .  The Speks website is a mine of material,  recordings, lyrics , tips on  classroom use etc. and an excellent  resource for anyone involved in primary school education.

Ar fheabhas!

I

Bards, Broadcasters & Buskers: Ennis Book Club Festival 2013

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Events
Ten Books You Must Read                      
Readings: Fergal Keane and Marina Lewycka with Sean Rocks
Sunday Symposium:  Power and Corruption
Reading in the Dark
Remembering Dennis


In Ennis,  the sun shone as an influx of bibliophiles descended on Clare for the annual niche festival devoted to that  loquacious form of social collective, the book club. The format of walks and talks and the opportunity to connect with  authors  proving  to have an enduring appeal for the literary inclined as  for a seventh year,  venues buzzed with wordy chatter over the three day Ennis Book Club Festival .  Here is a round up of my festival experiences.

 Broadcasters Bookpick 

 10 Books You Should Read : An intense  hum of conversation resounded in Glor foyer  on Saturday morning as  punters  gathered to hear selections by radio folk, Sean Moncrieff and Áine Lawlor for one of the most popular events of the weekend.  Moncrieff's selection was quirky and he made an entertaining and  articulate case for most of the titles, communicating such  a genuine enthusiasm for the eclectic list that you would almost forgive him for the indulgence of reading at considerable length a rather bleak and dreary passage from his own book. Áine Lawlor, by her own admission, was 'ill-prepared' for the session and her selection of  several pairs of well known titles  by the same authors seemed to misread  the bookish audience. More titles you should re-read perhaps?
I include the selections of both speakers below

Tales of Two Valentinas

More Broadcasters and authors Fergal Keane and Marina Lewycka interviews by Sean Rocks .

This is a tricky format for a live event, being essentially a one to one  interview with the audience as voyeurs.  Grand on radio but in a large black box theatre with hundreds watching eyes , it can't be easy to create that sense of intimacy between interviewer and   interviewee to draw out the best insights.  Sometimes it can sizzle particularly if the authors have a sense of the dramatic and Lynne Reid Banks with Kevin Barry  and poets Paul Durkan and Thomas Lynch  had a performance  element that made for  memorable evenings from past festivals. Both interviewees this evening were genial and forthcoming and Rocks as always had done his homework, although not afraid to ask the simple questions  On Rwanda he asks the acclaimed BBC broadcaster. 'What do you do with memories like that'  You just don't think about it' the reply. 'Keane was as good as I've ever heard him' exclaimed one bibliophile.  Marina Lewycka, author of a Short History of Ukrainian Tractors  was a charming and gracious guest. You can get a sense of her style in her webpage which includes transcripts of interviews with the author..

2012 panel

Politicos and Journos
Sunday Symposium  'I am an anarchist an eco warrior' declared Alex , a bibliophile with an interest in Bolivia and acontributor to the Q&A at the Sunday Symposium .   No loafing around in bed for the hardy species of  book club bibliophile  hibernicus  and there was full house in Glor on Sunday morning for a symposium on power and corruption  with journalist Elaine Byrne , academic Brian Lucey and politicians Roisin Shortall and Mary O Rourke. ' Reponsibility without power' was her downfall remarked Shortall ruefully on her departure from' office. 'We co-opt to corrupt' said Brian Lucey, on the pervasive nature of corruption Irish style. Power without the fun of ever being in the infamous Galway tent -Mary O Rourke distanced herself from corruption, Fianna Fail style .

'Reading in the Dark' at Sceal Eile Bookshop photo Éibhleann Ní Ghríofa

Buskers
Readings in the Dark   In contrast to the large auditorium events , one of the most enjoyable events took place in the  small independent book shop Scéal Eile . In the cosy space in the light of candles and a wood burning stove Darren Killeen of Hounds Hollow Productions presented a selection of readings from James Joyce and Bram Stoker.  Galway writer, Alan McMonagle read from his own anthology of short stories Liar, Liar.  James Fleming  after a nod to local hero Johnny Patterson launched into a hilarious monologue on the life of a statue-the busking variety not the inanimate kind, a scene in which sees him interviewed by Sean Rocks , a case of art imitating life at Ennis Book Club Festival.



 Bards
 Remembering Dennis: Poets and friends gathered at the Ground Hotel to pay tribute to the late Dennis O Driscoll. The poet was due to read at the festival, I was privileged to be invited to contribute some musical punctuation on violin. The poem that caught my attention most was 'The Light of Other Days' a humorous rant on the poet's dislike of John McCormack, tempered by his father's penchant for the mawkish ballads and a moment where the melody choice of  Oft in the Stilly Night chimed with the texts.  I include my selection below.

For a seventh successive year we say bravo and thank you to the hard working committee who under chairman, Ciana Campbell brighten the early Spring Days for a while by drawing entertaining guests and generating lively conversation in the Clare county town. There was so much more that I didn't get along to with celebrity authors. John Banville and Joseph O Connor in town on Friday. My sources tell me that Michael Harding was most beguiling at his morning reading from his memoir hot off the press.
It was great to see the events well attended due  no doubt to a well managed publicity campaign and our compliments also on the beautifully printed notes accompanying each talk. We wouldn't wish to be anywhere else but at home in Ennis  for this excellent festival. Wishing all involved continued success in their  endeavours.

My report from 2012 here 

For a flavour of sights and sounds from 2012 have a look at the video below.


My Musical Selection for Remembering Denis

The Lark in The Clear Air  arr TC Kelly
Traumerei  Schumann
Sliabh na mBan  Slow Air
Ashokan Farewell  Ungar
Oft in the Stilly Night Moore

10 Books You Must Read
S Moncrieff                                                             Aine Lawlor
Collected Stories Raymond  Carver                     The Emporer of All Maladies: A Biography of 
Cloud Atlas David Mitchell                                   Cancer Siddhartha Mukherjee                                       
Consider the Lobster David Foster Wallace          Wolf Hall   Hilary Mantell
The Case for God Karen Armstrong                    Bring Up the Bodies  "
The Angel of the Streetlamps Sean Moncrieff       Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen 
How to be Alone Jonathan Franzen                     Persuasion                   "
The Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger                     The Polish Office    Alan Furst 
The Great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerald                     The Spies of Warsaw   " 
Legacy of Ashes Tim Weiner                               Charles Dowding's Vegetable Course
The Rabbit Quartet John Updike                          Forgotton Skills of Cooking Darina Allen            
                                                          On Gardening  Helen Dillon *  (omitted from live list)







 

Limey Lords a Leaping: Me and My Girl in Ennis

Everyone is doing the Lambeth Walk on the Causeway this week as Ennis Musical Society present the 1930's morale booster, Me and My Girl for their 60th anniversary production. Tapping into the current penchant for toff TV, Downton Abbey, the show, a  gender reverse take on Pygmalion is the frothiest, lightest theatrical confection, a good old fashioned song and dance show  full of catchy tunes, corny jokes and lashings of lively dance routines, delivered with brio  in glorious tecnicolour by the Banner society . Hard to believe that cast and chorus members were  busy with all sorts day jobs before taking to the boards for the evening.

Brian Henry as Bill is an exuberant song and dance man in the best music hall tradition . Mary Healy  as Lady Jacqueline is delightfully OTT as his blonde bombshell comedic foil.  Tony Murray steals a scene dispensing advice as the doddery old family solicitor, Pargeter. Lauren Dunne as feisty heroine Sally shines in the wistful 'Once You Lose Your Heart' . The riotous company numbers are the ones that most cheer the heart  beautifully choreographed by Barbara Meany. Musical director Shane Farrell  keeps the tempos bright and breezy and  The Lambeth Walk was a  rumbustious delight. Is there a more cheerful and amiable song than The Sun Has Got His Hat On staged as a Lawn Tennis and Croquet party romp in eye socking whites and marine blue costumes?

Anyone for tennis?   from Ennis Mus Soc website

The nine piece pit with full brass and reed section had a terrific big band sound and the percussion added all sorts of bells and whistles I have never heard in a live band before. Pit  pianos are very often  filling in for missing parts but in this score the old joanna  is essential  to evoke that cockney knees up vibe though I missed a bass  part to add more bottom resonance.

Ticket prices were a modest €15 and this was great value for a  production which gave no sense that values were pared down in line with recession. How fantastic to see musical theatre alive and thriving on our doorstep in Clare. In the last few weeks alone there has been no need for a trip to the West End to see lively entertaining productions as both Ennis and Shannon societies mounted excellent productions .



Robert Lindsay A snatch from the 1986  London production

Venue Notes
Amateur societies and their following  aren't usually  in any hurry to clear the house and the meet and greet time after the show is important. It was a pity that no teas and coffees were available in the foyer following the performance .

The programme notes thoughtfully included printed lyrics to facilitate a closing sing a long. Great idea but the house lights need to come up for it to work.


Cathys Reviews Sound of Music   Ennis Musical Soc2012

'Flute Player' Personified at Clare Poets February

Featured Poet Brian Mooney 

His was an earthed universe....
When he played 

he seemed

 to gather up 

the notes 

that cascaded down 

from 

his timber flute

   from Flute Player for Des Mulkere

The Clare Poets kept the flame  burning at the monthly poetry vigil in Glór Foyer on 16th February . The featured poet was founder member Brian Mooney . Sadly Brian was indisposed but his daughter Cora read beautifully  from his work. Some of the lines had a particular resonance as special guest  was  Des Mulkere for whom Brian wrote Flute Player quoted above.   We heard Danny Boy and the Last Rose of Summer  and Des , a farmer and musician  knitted a number of threads in his discourse delivered in a rich sonorous voice-the Kiltartan Irish and his family's association with Yeats , Denis Hempson and the Belfast Harp Festival amongst others.  Mike Douse was in the chair  and added a note on John McCormack's recordings of Moore's Melodies. There was a lively open mike session with regulars and newcomers. I enjoyed  Pat Considine's ,The Waking Field and Patricia's eco conscious poem on Fracking, both attending for the first time I believe.    The always impressive Peter Kay picked up the WB thread with his  performances from memory  of  Bulla .  We had a  poem as Gaeilge from Pat McNamara and poems from Arthurs Watson and Joe Cronin.
The Clare Poets meet in Glor, Ennis on the third Saturday of each month. All are welcome, poets or hearers.

Graffiti Classics in -Ennis

Virtouso string playing & polished vocals, madcap humour an entertaining mix @graffiticlassicinEnnis Tourdates here graffiticlassics.com/tour-dates.php
— Cathy Desmond (@fidleir) October 17, 2012

Some years ago , while on holidays, my family found ourselves at a festival performance by a comedy string quartet by Le Quatuor, a well established French comedy string quartet .  Our expectations were fairly low but the mix of highly skilled string playing combined with well honed comedy routines kept teenagers and adults enthralled for two hours, somewhat to our surprise.  I suspect that Graffiti Classics owe some debt to this group for paving the way for this strange hybrid  mix of high and lowbrow entertainment forms.



 Graffiti Classics are a comedy string quartet with the usual cello replaced a double bass with infinitely more inherent comedic potential which front man Cathal O Duill makes a good job of exploiting The humour doesn't overshadow that they are individually extremely accomplished musicians. The violinists particularly displayed some dazzling pyrotechnics in a Romanian 'Birdie Dance' . Violist , Stephen Kennedy's treacly  baritone voice  added a richness to the mix and the O Sole Mio/ Presley sing off with Kennedy and a O'Duill was hilarious.  They opened their set with a hoe down version of Thus Spake Zarasthustra.  It is no small feat that they perform their set from memory with not a music stand in sight .

It could not go unnoticed that the audience was  to say the least - 'sparce'   and the comedy potential of this was  naturally exploited as it could not possibly be ignored. Performers among the audience appreciated the added energy needed from the stage to make up the  energy defecit from a small house.
Afficionados in the audience included Paul Quinn of  The Speks and Marie Pyne, director  of the Forever Young Choir. Have a look at the video below for a flavour . They are performing around the country this week.  More details in this article from Journal of Music 




 Graffiti Classics

Related posts  Sid Bowfin at Sproai http://cathydesmond.blogspot.ie/2011/07/fun-at-spraoi-street-festival-waterford.html

'Stew of Complexity' in Speech Project at Glor

The Speech Project photo from Journal of Music 

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Gerry Diver's Speech Project but that was part of the appeal and this fusion of audio and visual experiences made for a  fascinating and absorbing  evening.

Pizz Perfect Lisa Knapp

For starters we had a set of  simple folk songs delivered with great charm by Lisa Knapp,  one of the band members . An impressive septet of musicians led by Diver on fiddle spread out in front of the  large backdrop screen  The line up included two violins, cello, uilleann pipes, piano , two dulcimers with occasional splashes of other timbres.  The elements included snatches of interviews with iconic folk musicians with projected cinematic images based around the themes . The pieces were spun out of musical motifs suggested by the speech patterns in the spoken fragments. Opening with Christy Moore talking about his experience in London and closing with Joe Cooley near the end of    his life in New York ,  a segment reproduced in the video below. In between we heard from Margaret Barry (interviewed by the Lomax), local boy Martin Hayes , Danny Meehan, Damien Dempsey and Shane McGowan.  (The title of this post is drawn from Hayes' interview). The music drew from traditional and minimalist idioms and there was plenty to stimulate the aural and visual senses .

Speech Project at Glór

There were resonances with the work of modern minimalist musicians such as Gavin Bryars and Steve Reich. The matching of rhythms of speech patterns with musical phrases reminded me very much of Adam Corks work on the musical/opera,  London Road.  The abscence of percussion and string articulation was reminiscent of Penguin Cafe Orchestra but I found this experience rather more engaging enhanced with a the visual dimension.

Fiddle players in the audience included, Joan McNamara, Siobhán Peoples and  Diane Daly .

  You can hear my interview with  one of the band members violinist David Daly here.

  listen to violinist ‘Declan daly’ on Audioboo

http://journalofmusic.com/radar/gerry-divers-speech-project-live

'The Queen of Connemara': A Tribute to Delia Murphy

 'Without Delia Murphy , there would have been no Christy Moore' was the claim made by actress and writer Carmen Cullen in her tribute act to her aunt Delia Murphy , one of Irelands best loved singers and song collectors at Glór this afternoon. The event  was part of the Bealtaine Festival as a guest of Clare Arts Office.  Decades before the Clancy Brothers , Delia Murphy popularised many Irish Folk Songs bringing them to the attention of international audiences giving them a respectability at home . And what pearls were the songs she unearthed, so simple and charming that once heard they are never forgotton.  Standard party piece favourites for my parents' generation, they are ingrained in our subconscious.  The show was a mix of songs , illustrated lecture with a  slide show of old photographs with the songs delivered by Mairín O Donovan with a great degree of charm accompanied by Gerry Anderson on guitar. Carmen also read from her soon to be published biographical novel, Two Sisters Singing using a simple prop of an on stage wind up gramaphone to evoke a past era. (Carmen's mother and Delia were sisters)  Opening with The Queen of Connemara, included in the set list Courtin' in the Kitchen, The Spinning Wheel Song, The Connemara Cradle Song, Three Lovely Lassies , Down By the Glenside, Thank You Ma'am Says Dan , If I were a Blackbird and of course The Moonshiner from which the delightfully assonant title for the show, I'll Live Till I Die is taken .

There was a sizeable enthusiastic audience including many residents of Carigoran House, several of whom took to the stage to sing a couple of songs themselves before departing.  Musician and entertainer,  Nigel Bridge, County Librarian , Helen Walsh  and Clare Arts Officer, Siobhan Mulcahy were also among the gathering.

Gerry Anderson Carmen Cullen and Mairin O Donoghue

This was a delightful afternoon of entertainment  setting in context  the contribution of this colourful and important artist.


Oh if I was a blackbird, could whistle and sing 
I'd follow the vessel my true love sails in 
And in the top rigging I would there build my nest 
And I'd flutter my wings o'er her lily-white breast

Review of the Year Top Clare Arts Events 2011

Top Clare Arts Events 2011 A personal selection

Although I have travelled far in pursuit of excellent arts events, some of the best events were right on my doorstep in Clare. Here is my personal selection of the highlights of 2011. Click on the highlighted text for my review.

Music 

Best Opera   Dublin Youth Opera Co. Jukebox Opera
A company of teenage opera singers at  Ennis Friary (including Ennis native Ruth Kelly) were stunning in their Jukebox opera , Thicker than Water       

Thom Moore

 Best Songwriter Thom Moore at Island Music Club. This is tricky, on one hand  Declan O Rourke, writer of my favourite 21st century song ever brought his Mag Pai Zai tour to Glór but after some deliberation my prize goes to Thom Moore after his charming gig at Minogues, Tulla as a guest of the Island Music Club when we were reminded of how many hit songs he wrote for other performers.


Best Blues   Johnny Fean House Shakers Blues. 
Well ok.  I didn't hear very much blues and I am not  particularly a  fan but I enjoyed this gig at Shannon . In fact I heard Fean twice in 2011, the second gig with bass player Stephen Travers. If anyone could make a case for the Blues, Johnny Fean could. Catch him at his Limerick gigs

Johnny Fean

Best Trad Gig Zoe Conway John McIntyre at SMB Folk Club
A pleasure to hear unamplified music of any genre but Zoe and John McIntyre were charming at the Courthouse as guests of the Sixmilebridge Folk Club. Superb violin technique and charming songs and a mix of genres with sympathetic guitar accompaniment. An accoustic delight.

Zoe Conway, John Mc

                                                                        .







Best Ensemble: Cornets by candlelight  Ennis Brass Band
Vladimir Jablokov brought his quintet to Glor as part of the Classical Twist tour and was my favourite small ensemble of the year
There is something thrilling about the sound of brass instruments en masse and the Ennis Brass Band are a super enesemble.  Even if they were only half as good they would still be my pick. I admire very much their sense of civic duty and they remain an honest to goodness marching band getting out in all weathers to cheer  Ennis folk. Listen back to the post concert interview with PRO Darragh McAllister in my report. I was very proud to be a guest performer at their 40 th celebration concert. Long may they prosper.

Best solo artist Peggy Seeger  
Peegy Seeger , a living legend was simply extraordinary at the Courthouse as a guest of Sixmilebridge Folk Club. Witty, charming and playing a fascinating collection of instruments.

Chez Jack L at Glór

Twirling a cane, Jack L swashbuckled his way through the stalls and bounded onto the Glór stage last night to deliver the first number of his homage to Belgian songwriter, Jacques Brel. Looking rather devilish in a Johnny Depp sort of way  and clad in theatrical black and red right down to his guitar, he was accompanied on stage by accoustic bass, electric piano and drums.

While Jack Lukeman is a charismatic and engaging performer, what set this performance apart was the audio visual element with live action coordinated  with striking animation and images projected onto a backdrop. One might think that this extraneous effect would distract from Jack L's compelling stage presence but for the most part it literally added an innovative new dimension to the perfomance and brought colour to a monocrome performing space. A range of images in different styles assemble and are deployed to great effect, sometimes playful, colourful and sometimes monochrome and mimimalist. Portrait images of cigarette toting Brel  are followed with childish colourful animated images of bullfighgters and the boulevards of Paris are summoned  after a trippy psychedelic kaleidoscope display. Most striking perhaps are the sea scenes for probably  Brel's most famous song The Port of Amsterdam'  (see link below).

Unfortunately some patrons misunderstood the band's mid set  departure  from  the stage and made a break  for the bar when stillness was  needed for a solo accompanied only by a miniature accordion.
Unamplified for the number Stardust Falling,  Jack L demonstrates a powerful voice with  great  colour and range of pitch and I was left wanting more  of the reduced ensemble of voice and piano. Overall, while  the overamplification was not as marked as when I had previously heard the artist at this venue,  some numbers were  too loud for my taste, with drums the dominant musical element in the mix  detracting from the splendid voice and making the all important lyrics less discernible.

    Animation for Port of Amsterdam

I hope we will see more of this visual approach to musical presentations. A venue like Glór with good projection facilities makes it particularly suitable and I haven't seen many acts exploit this facility beyond projecting a few abstract images. Brendan Bowyer used  projected  images of his Hucklebuck days to enhance the sense of nostalgia in his show and Gilbert O'Sullivan also used thisapproach. Further afield  Russian  pianist Mikhail Rudy  has caused quite a stir recently in classical music press with his rendition of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition to projections  animation of Kandinsky images.  There was a large  loyal and enthusiastic following in Glor for the gig and it was good to have one of the major successes of last year's Edinburgh Festival  in Ennis

Mikhail Rudy 'accompanied' by Kandinsky

Support act Fiach Moriarty provided good entertainment and the audience warmed to his understated set and self deprecating wry humour. His is a sophisticated and distinctive new voice and I look forward to hearing him in a venue more suitable for a solo performer.



An increasing irritant in Glór is members of the audience texting or consulting their mobile phones during performances. The glare is indeed a considerable distraction and nuisance. A gentleman next to me was seething and short of confronting a culprit. Perhaps the venue could address this in their show preamble.

When Jolie Met Christie at Glór Ennis

Christie Hennessy, Aonghus McAnally, Al Jolsen

It is said that of all the performers of national and international standing that performed in Glór, the only one that a local enclosed order of nuns invited to tea in their parlour was Christie Hennessy who delighted the sisters with a selection of  hits.  There was a good crowd gathered in Glor Ennis  tonight (Mon) for When Jolie Met Christie, a new musical theatre piece inspired by the life and music of the late Tralee born, singer songwriter,  whose songs have been recorded by numerous Irish artists. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this tribute show but this was a multi layered and highly entertaining presentation . 

The show is based on the premise that Christie Hennessy and Al Jolsen meet in heaven and the iconic jazz singer Jolsen becomes in effect the narrator who charts Christie's jouney through life, punctuated by Christie's songs .  A similar device was used in  the Avignon OFF production of Beethoevn Ce Manouche where the plot is built around a celestial meeting of Beethoven and Django Reinhardt.  Here McAnally's  monologues are a central part of the production rather than just  a device to move from one number to the next. There were resonances also in Sandy Kelly's retelling of the  Patsy Cline biography at this venue.

Aonghus McAnally, well known as a broadcaster shod in blue suede shoes demonstrates an impressive dramatic and vocal  range as well as skillful guitar playing and portrays the egotistical Jolson and the mild mannered Christie with equal facility  The story is a heart warming and compelling one, that of an orphaned illiterate emigrant, turned travelling troubadour who despite terrible travails gradually achieves 'stardom' .  There are many noteworthy elements  to the production directed by Ray Yeates. The set  designed by Robert Ballagh is  effective, the  taut beautifully written script  by Sean McCarthy sustains the pace throughout .  McAnally who delivers a compelling performance, is well supported on stage by musicians Nuala Ni Chanainn  on  violin, vocals , percussion and pianist Ivan McKenna.  The amplification mercifully is unobtrusive and the colour of the string timbres is not distorted.

The show opens and closes with 'I am a Star' (Rolling Back the Clouds) and the closing number was greeted by a  standing ovation by the  audience .  In Ennis the show attracted a relatively senior audience. McAnally who seemed positively energised by his experience on the Glor stage spoke to me about the role. You can hear the passion and enthusiasm for his subject in this interview following the show.  Nearing the end of an extensive tour, a few opportunities  remain to see the production in Castlebar, Leitrim, Drogheda and Bray. It is well worth a visit.




Aonghus McAnally talks about his role -foyer interview

Dancing Days in Ennis



 

Dancers from Dinan School Corps photo Declan Monaghan



Greystones ladies stepping out

Pat Mac

Brock Maguire in the Great Hall

What a hotspot of eurhythmical activity, the Banner county town was yesterday.   In the Hall of Scoil Chríost Rí.  6th class were busy putting the final touches to their presentation of the Haka  and out on the Gort Rd  Ennis Educate Together NS, Fatima di Lucia was busy preparing her group of dancers for  their forthcoming performance at International Day Fair. In the Old Ground Dick O Connell  was guiding dancers through their paces at the second Foinn Seisiún.

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the stunning show presented by the Dinan School of Ballet on the Glór Stage.  The show was a delightful series of  dances in a broad range of styles with classsical ballet at the core  in a presentation of  story of the Wizard of Oz . The costumes were  in a dazzling range of colours with no sparing of  sequins and glitter and the performers ranged from tiny tots to experienced mature performers. The backing tracks included songs from the film interspersed with other numbers in an  eclectic range of styles . I really enjoyed the tap numbers and  we loved the marriage of classical ballet complete with psychadelic purple and green tutus to Me No Speak Americano, a number which itself combines different genres.  Siobhán Sexton in the role of Dorothy  had  a very graceful  stage presence and had the tough job of opening the show with a solo turn.