Gaelic Stormed

For those not there you missed a great, though too-short Gaelic Storm show on Saturday night. For reasons unknown, the geniuses at the Beaumont Club decreed that that the band had to vacate the stage at 9:30 to make way for a country music DJ. And so by 9:50, the 500 happy people who'd been enjoying Gaelic Storm were replaced by 50 or so line dancers and bull riders, mostly made up of two wedding parties. What a business model.

In spite of Patrick Murphy's line that the band "only plays (the Kansas City Irish Fest) for the money, because the festival sucks" (quickly followed by "I'm only joking. I'm only saying that because most of the planning committee is here."), the band were their usual engaging, energetic selves. And I'll tell you what I told Murphy and Twigger after the show: Gaelic Storm should conduct clinics for bands that want to play the Irish Fest circuit. Not on musicianship necessarily, although they're all certainly more than competent...Jessie Burns is one of the best young fiddlers around. But on engaging the crowd and making the people paying the bills feel like they're part of the show and not detached spectators.

Steve Twigger, guitarist and vocalist for the band told me after the show that in the band's early days he asked a well respected figure in L.A. Irish music circles for his opinion after a Gaelic Storm show. He was told "You're shite. But you're entertaining." And Steve was thrilled because, as he said "I knew we wouldn't always be shite, and being entertaining is a lot harder to learn."

So if you happen to be in a band and would like to play the Kansas City, Milwaukee, Dublin or any other major Irish Fest, here's some advice for you. Press kits and demo CDs are nice and serve their purpose. And we get hundreds. But better than that, let us know when you'll be playing close to K.C. and invite us to come see your live show. And once we're there, learn the lessons of Gaelic Storm and Mairtin de Cogain and Eddie Delahunt and Ian Byrne. Let us know that you know we're out there. Make us laugh. Invite us to become part of the show. Let us in on the joke. Be entertaining, even if you're shite. It'll pay off in the end, I promise.