I’ve written about my love for The Pogues and Flogging Molly. And anybody who looks at my Last FM stats would know that The Dubliners are moving up.
+---------------------+---------+ | Artist | Overall | +---------------------+---------+ | Tom Waits | 1,760 | | The Cure | 1,335 | | The Pogues | 1,217 | | Belle and Sebastian | 1,022 | | Radiohead | 775 | | Nightwish | 673 | | *The Dubliners* | 631 | | Bruce Springsteen | 602 | | Flogging Molly | 443 | | U2 | 441 | | 16 Horsepower | 419 | | The Strokes | 401 | | Madredeus | 370 | | Tricky | 355 | +---------------------+---------+
Friday night I saw them in concert. I haven’t been to a live concert in ages. I generally think these concerts are too expensive (eg. U2). At the same time I think bands should earn their living from live appearances instead of relying on album sales. The future of music listening belongs to file-sharing, I hope.
I was surprised to learn that the concert actually had a *break*. Wow! I bought the three oldest CDs, the latest CD, a video with TV performances of Luke Kelly, spending twice as much money as I spent on the ticket, surprising myself.
These guys are *old*! Barny was barely able to walk. That had me dumbstruck for a while. I had recently seen Giulias Verschwinden. A Swiss/German movie about growing old. Seeing these old men performing reminded me of the misery of decay. When I returned home, I watched the videos with Luke Kelly, one of the founders who died in the eighties. That highlighted the age difference. During the concert they dedicated songs to deceased band members and recited poems. Again, I was so surprised I didn’t know what to think of it.
The Dubliners I saw were still playing the same songs they played forty years ago. That’s amazing! Clearly this band didn’t work like other artists. This was not a tour presenting a new album. This was a tour of artists entertaining their audience with songs they had been hearing for decades. The new album was an “upgrade” of the old songs with new vocals and the like. Maybe traditional music doesn’t need to “evolve” and reinvent itself every so many years?
Truly, an interesting experience.
#Music #Irish #Dubliners