What a great weekend. We're still waiting on attendance totals, but 2010 was one of if not the biggest and best in our 8 year history. Gorgeous weather, except for the fecking wind, at times. And without question the best and most varied music line up ever. The curse of working at Irish Fest of course is that you never get to actually sit and listen for longer than a few minutes at a time. I did manage to catch snippets of a few shows.
Girsa, who seemed to have matured and seasoned as performers even in the two weeks since I saw their great shows in Milwaukee. Absolutely delightful girls and delightful mothers who gave real meaning to our "Year Of The Woman" theme.
While I missed most of Kila's Saturday night show, I did sit and watch Sunday afternoon's for a few minutes before being called away. Incredible. They've been a favorite of mine for years and seeing them live did nothing but raise them higher on my list. And a weekend of conversations with band member Rossa O Snodaigh was like getting a crash course in Irish history and language.
Andreas Transo, who I'd only seen as a solo was even better with guitarist Pat Dermody and fiddler Colin Farrell. One the strongest most powerful singing voices you hear anywhere.
Cara. A wonderful return engagement. Their big crowds confirmed that they really made a connection with KC audiences last year.
The Bachand siblings, who made us all smile all weekend both on and off the stage.
Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul. For me personally consistently one of the best performers in any kind of music. I only wish they could have stayed past that great Friday night show.
Half the fun of watching The Screaming Orphans is watching the crowd respond to them and their wildly varied set list. If anybody has more fun on stage at Irish Fest than the Diver sisters, I don't know who they are.
I'd love to hear about your musical highlights. Or your comedic ones, since I couldn't attend either of the comedy shows.
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Based on a Kila DVD I saw I was prepared not to like them but they were awesome. Nice guys also. As were the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. Energetic show. I got to catch some of Qristina and Quinn but really enjoyed them at the after party. I'm bummed I missed Girsa. Teada was relly good too. I also liked Guggenheim Grotto and Andreas Transo. Didn't get to see enough of McPeake but heard good things about them from others. Another great festival.
Im still spinning over how much fun I had this weekend! I feel like I say this every year but this has to of been one of the entertainment lineups we have ever had!
I'm surprised about the positive comments about Kila. I thought they were awful. I know taste in music is very subjective, and I'm not questioning others tastes, but I just didn't like their music.
I don't think I was the only one, as many people made a bee line for the exits after the acrobats performed at the Saturday show. I felt kind of bad for the band, because there were a ton of people taking off.
The acrobat/dancers I liked. I liked them a lot!!! The gal that was spinning around in the net like a giant tee bag was something to see. Wow! That was good.
My advice is to ditch Kila in the future and figure out a way to incorporate the acrobat/dancers in more (if not all) of the acts.
One more thing, a member of Kila made some nasty comments about the Ancient Order of Hieberians early in the Saturday show. I'm not sure if he was kidding, but he seemed upset that they wouldn't accept Protestant members. Perhaps his comments prompted some to leave early, I don't know. One guy muttered something about the Orange Orders turning down Catholics. Very odd to attend an Irish event and bash AOH, I didn't think that was a wise move.
I agree with the boo to Kila. Not impressive at all. The dancer could not be seen due to the spotlight shining from the stage into the audience. What a disappointment!
Just so I understand, was it the band you disliked or the dancers? Or the lighting? Or all three?
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