CHERISH the Ladies is their name and cherish them this enthusiastic
Glasgow audience did.
Not exactly a Glasgow audience; pockets of people from every corner of
Ireland appeared to be arranged around the hall roughly in, if my
geography serves, map order, identifying themselves every time their
home county was mentioned.
The Ladies (eight of them plus two chaps) are for the most part first
generation Irish-American with pride in their roots, a terrific sense of
fun and heaps of music in their fingers and toes. Especially the toes.
The music -- particularly a formidable tin whistle tour de force and
Kathy Ryan's singing of songs old and new -- would have stood up well
enough by itself. However, every time their quartet of dancers appeared
the atmosphere in the hall became charged.
Speaking as a fully paid up member of the two-left-feet brigade, the
techniques behind this stuff have me confused at the best of times, but
those casually slow sideward steps and the way they have of hanging in
the air during hornpipes until the beat falls really is something
special.
De Dannan this year will have survived 20 years, almost as many if not
more line-up changes, and even a couple of variations in spelling. Their
trademark, tight-knit ensemble playing and a talent for building
momentum almost unnoticed, is as reliable as fiddler Frankie Gavin's
penchant for old jokes.
They also have a tradition for bringing over great singers, which made
Tommy Flemming's task unenviable. How do you follow Mary Black and
Dolores Keane? In Flemming's case, simple. Sing Owen Hand's My Donald
with just Caroline Levell's cello for accompaniment. This beautifully
controlled performance and a set of quicksilver Kerry reels caught the
ear amid some tough competition.
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