Ronan Returns

Remember back when I told you that Irish Fest director Ronan Collins was heading home to Ireland and that he'd be sending us all kinds of interesting reports while he was there? And remember how then Ronan disappointed all of us by not checking in once? Remember all those names we called him?

Well, turns out he was just saving up his reports until he got back. Apparently he was too busy hearing great music to be bothered with us back in Kansas City while he was there. Here's the first of Ronan's three part series, "What I Heard On My Summer Vacation".

Musical Highlight #1
Damien Dempsey, www.damiendempsey.com June 4th, Olympia Theatre, Dublin.

Damien Dempsey is a working class hometown hero to his huge Dublin fanbase. He's a balladeer, a rapper and a reggae singer all in one. His songs are anthems that cover subjects ranging from his old Dub-a-lin Town to the greedy side of the Celtic Tiger. There was a packed house for the release of Damien's new album, "Live at The Olympia". The pre-gig atmosphere was more like a World Cup game than a concert, with chants of his nickname... DAY-MO-OH...DAY-MO-OH.

Once he hit the stage the crowd erupted and sang every word of every song. The vibe made the hairs on the back of my neck
stand to attention from start to finish. I had only been mildly impressed with his songs prior to the live show. Now I'm a huge fan and understand the Daymo phenomenon.

We'll hear more from Ronan tomorrow, when he delivers his report on something very different from what we might think of when we think "Irish Music".