Chieftans show who's boss
March 11, 2010
By Jim Sullivan, BOSTON HERALD STAFF
There are St. Patrick’s Day traditions Bostonians count on - among them, the Pogues on Lansdowne Street and the Chieftains at Symphony Hall. But this year, the Pogues are on hiatus and the Chieftains are around Boston, not in it.
The Irish folk superstars were at Worcester’s Hanover Theatre on Tuesday, the Amherst Fine Arts Center yesterday and they play Lowell Memorial Auditorium tonight.
In Worcester, the Chieftains - led as always by loquacious tin whistle player/uilleann piper Paddy Moloney - played two sets totaling nearly two hours. They devoted a heavy chunk to their new record, “San Patricio,” released that day.
A concept album, “San Patricio” concerns the Irish who fled the potato famine of the 1840s only to be conscripted into the U.S. Army and sent to fight in the Mexican-American War.
Some of them identified more with oppressed Catholic Mexicans, deserted and fought with Santa Ana as the San Patricio Battalion.
Fusing Celtic and Mexican music, the Chieftains wove their stories - sad, proud, eloquent - throughout the set.
An early standout was “Lullabye for the Dead,” sung gorgeously by Alyth McCormack and featuring exquisite fiddling from Deanie Richardson.
Moloney, flutist Matt Molloy and singer/bodhran player Kevin Conneff are the remaining core players, but harpist Triona Marshall, acoustic guitarist/singer Jeff White and fiddler/dancer Jon Pilatzke played key roles.
Pilatzke’s brother, Nathan, and Cara Butler, came onstage to step dance, joined at times by five women and one man from Worcester’s McInerney School of Irish Dance.
The onstage forces swelled during “March to Battle (Across the Rio Grande),” when the 17-person Worcester Fire Department Pipe & Drum Band entered stage right and formed a semicircle behind the Chieftains.
It was a tapestry rich in nuance, color and humor. The Chieftains even began “Maneo/Mo Ghile Mear/cw1The Rocky Road to Dublin” with the opening riff to the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction.”
Really, is there anyone who doesn’t love this band?
THE CHIEFTAINS at Hanover Theatre, Worcester, Tuesday night.
There are St. Patrick’s Day traditions Bostonians count on - among them, the Pogues on Lansdowne Street and the Chieftains at Symphony Hall. But this year, the Pogues are on hiatus and the Chieftains are around Boston, not in it.
The Irish folk superstars were at Worcester’s Hanover Theatre on Tuesday, the Amherst Fine Arts Center yesterday and they play Lowell Memorial Auditorium tonight.
In Worcester, the Chieftains - led as always by loquacious tin whistle player/uilleann piper Paddy Moloney - played two sets totaling nearly two hours. They devoted a heavy chunk to their new record, “San Patricio,” released that day.
A concept album, “San Patricio” concerns the Irish who fled the potato famine of the 1840s only to be conscripted into the U.S. Army and sent to fight in the Mexican-American War.
Some of them identified more with oppressed Catholic Mexicans, deserted and fought with Santa Ana as the San Patricio Battalion.
Fusing Celtic and Mexican music, the Chieftains wove their stories - sad, proud, eloquent - throughout the set.
An early standout was “Lullabye for the Dead,” sung gorgeously by Alyth McCormack and featuring exquisite fiddling from Deanie Richardson.
Moloney, flutist Matt Molloy and singer/bodhran player Kevin Conneff are the remaining core players, but harpist Triona Marshall, acoustic guitarist/singer Jeff White and fiddler/dancer Jon Pilatzke played key roles.
Pilatzke’s brother, Nathan, and Cara Butler, came onstage to step dance, joined at times by five women and one man from Worcester’s McInerney School of Irish Dance.
The onstage forces swelled during “March to Battle (Across the Rio Grande),” when the 17-person Worcester Fire Department Pipe & Drum Band entered stage right and formed a semicircle behind the Chieftains.
It was a tapestry rich in nuance, color and humor. The Chieftains even began “Maneo/Mo Ghile Mear/cw1The Rocky Road to Dublin” with the opening riff to the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction.”
Really, is there anyone who doesn’t love this band?
THE CHIEFTAINS at Hanover Theatre, Worcester, Tuesday night.
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