GAELIC STORM at Michigan's Irish Music Festival: The best band in the entire fucking world!
September 19, 2008 at 12:01 am	· Filed under Cast & Crew!, Celebrities, England, Europe, Healthy Living, Ireland, Musicians, NEW Music, St. Patrick's Day, U.K., U.S.A.	and tagged: Irish
Polythene Pam and her imaginary boyfriend, Ryan Lacey, drummer for Gaelic Storm, at the Irish Music Festival, September 13, 2008.
Being that I harbor an affinity for Ireland and it's culture, I gladly accepted an invitation to the Irish Music Festival in Muskegon, Michigan. However, I soon realized that my broke ass did not possess sufficient funds to support this trip in addition to my annual visit to Holly Grove for the Michigan Renaissance Festival. I didn't want to miss out on the tom foolery and shenanigans at the Ren Fest, so I promptly informed my travel partner that I was going to forgo the music festival, as there was plenty of fun to be had, and plenty of Smithwick's to be consumed in Holly Grove. When I learned that Gaelic Storm was headlining the Irish Music Festival, I said, "Fuck you, Eleventieth Annual Renaissance Festival!"
I absolutely adore Gaelic Storm. I was first introduced to their music when they appeared as the steerage band in the 1997 film
Eleven years later, I was reintroduced to Gaelic Storm when a friend of mine stumbled upon their music during a road trip just a few short months ago. I listened to their album "Bring Yer Wellies," which debuted at #2 on the Billboard World Chart when it was released in July, 2006, and became immediately enamored with it. My affection for the band's newest effort, entitled, "What's The Rumpus?" is growing at phenomenal speed.
In itself, the Irish Music Festival, which ran from September 12-14, was really very unimpressive in comparison to the stunning quality of the Renaissance Festival. The music fest lacked incense, satyrs, knights, kings, queens, fauns, "THe DeD bOb ShOw," Smithwick's and tits. However, the Irish Music Festival had Gaelic Storm! And it had Guinness! And Harp! When Guinness and Harp unite, Black&Tans are born! And everybody knows that Black&Tans are fucking spectacular!
Polythene Pam: Conqueror of the Harp!
It had been raining all day at the Irish Music Festival, and the downpour continued well into the evening. 'Twas very fitting, I thought. Gaelic Storm took the stage at 9 p.m. inside of large white tent that went by the name "Bob and Bernie's Pub." Standing on top of a picnic table, I observed the steadily increasing swell of merriment beneath the dimly lit tent as Patrick Murphy, lead singer, performed the standard sound checks. The atmosphere was intoxicating, as was the plethora of Guinness that continuously poured forth from the tap.
The best song performance of the evening was "Me and the Moon," which goes a little something like this:
"Me and the moon stayed up all night; I brought the whiskey! He brought the light! A quarter to three, we're feeling fine when the sun comes up I'm gonna miss my friend, moonshine."
Patrick instructed one half of the crowd to sing "I brought the whiskey," and the other half to sing "He brought the light" at the appropriate times. It was fucking awesome. Fans were throwing up their arms and waving their hands in the air as they sang their designated lines. I could see the shadows dancing on the tent wall behind the band because I had remained standing atop the picnic table like fucking god. I had the bestest, best view. I really felt as though I were standing in an Irish pub. The rain; the lighting; the lyrics; the pipes; the fiddle; the drums; the guitar; the storytelling-it all added a unique ambiance.
Each member of Gaelic Storm is ridiculously talented: Ryan Lacey plays various percussion instruments such as African drums, the Surdo, which is a large bass drum, and a bunch of other fancy shit. This fucker graduated twice from the Los Angeles Music Academy; Steve Twigger is lead vocalist/guitarist/kick ass son-of-a-bitch. He can play the fucking bouzouki and the mandolin; Peter Purvis plays the Highland bagpipes, Uillean pipes, DegerPipes, which are electronic bagpipes, and the whistle. Pete plays a mean whistle, let me tell you; Jessie Burns is fucking adorable. She's the fiddler, and the newest addition to Gaelic Storm; Patrick Murphy is lead vocalist. He plays the accordian, the spoons and the Bodhran, which is an Irish frame drum.
I cannot tell you how much ass the Irish Music Festival would have sucked had Gaelic Storm not been there. They are phucking phenomenal.