Bodhráns on The Brain

First of all, thanks to Pinkó Punkó, I can now get the little accent doodad over the a úp there.


Black 47 played at Shank Hall last night. The best Irish-expatriate, independent, horn-fueled alterna-world-rock-hip hop political band fronted by a playwright you'll ever see.

No kidding though. The merch table looks like a garage sale. Books, cds, shirts, cassettes(!) , dvds (hanx for teh swag, mike!)

Milwaukee band called the Sandcarvers opened up. They were pretty damn good, and were having a good time playing. Definitely not phoning it in. we'll plan on checking them later in the spring when they come back from their UFO tour.

Black 47 hit the stage at 10-ish with beer, whiskey, and a new bass player; it's not his fault he looks like Peter Brady. He rocks though.

They even had a couple of new songs, including one based on a Chicago fan who started watching them play live as a kid, and has grown up to serve in Iraq. They're one of the few bands out there to write poltiical songs, anti-war songs from an unabashed soldiers' perspectives.

In fact, much of their music is informed by the Irish history learned by Larry Kirwan before he moved to the US, and he's written songs about it. He started paying these songs with a pipe player named Chris Byrne and a drumbox in little divey Irish bars (after a brush with mainstream music success fizzled), angering the traditionalists, but attracting several like minded musicians and New York thrill seekers until word of mouth had crowds packing their live shows.

since then, they've been striking their own path, taking their music directly to their fans rather than waste their energy battling corporate music, and meanwhile creating a paradigm for a successful musical lifestyle, that's not based on hits and record companies. Clear Channel my ass.

After several albums, they have way too much material to play all my favorites. But they blazed through 'Rockin the Branx' and 'Green sued Shoes' with blazing energy, barely slowing down. They had a new song, infused with -of all things- Jewish Hava Nagilah horn solos. Another new song, Rosemary, about an Irish legal activist who was murdered. “San Patricio Brigade”, “Fire of Freedom” and “I Got Laid on Jame Joyce's Grave” were all in great shape, although the Reels suffered from not having the Trinity Dancers join them, like they usually do.

And then it was time for “Funky Ceili”, “Like A Rolling Stone”, and all too soon, the band was done and hitting the bar. We talked with Larry Kirwan for a bit after. He's hoping they can swing a Summerfest show.

Go see 'em.