Irish Fest 2007: Too popular?

Above: Miranda Mulholland of the Canadian/Celtic/Scottish band Glengarry Bhoys, one of several  bonny fiddlers at this year's Kansas City Irish Festival. Photos by Timothy Finn/The Star.

After Saturday night's attendance at the fifth annual Kansas City Irish Fest, it's safe to say that Kansas City doesn't merely respects its Elders, it adores them.

About 30 minutes before the local Celtic/rock band was scheduled to perform on the main stage at the festival, the ticket sellers stopped selling tickets, which discouraged scores of people who'd expected to pay at the gate and walk in. Worse, they weren't admitting people who had bought advance tickets or who'd already entered but left the festival grounds at Crown Center and expected to re-enter.

It turns out the fire marshal had showed up, cruised the grounds, saw how many people were already inside the gates and declared the place too crowded. In this case, an uneasy situation took care of itself. About the time the Elders were getting ready to take the stage, the gates were carefully re-admitting people with stamped hands and those with advance tickets. Apparently, the conditions around the main stage were so forbidding, people were heading out the gates, too.

Above: The Elders' Brent Hoad (left) and Steve Phillips, from many hundred feet from the stage, where it was standing-room-only.

The Elders appeared about 10 minutes after their scheduled time. By then the crowd in front of them was enormous -- many, many thousands -- and it gave the band the kind of welcome Springsteen gets at the Meadowlands or MSG.

They put on a typical show: loaded with energy and humor. Anyone who has seen them within the past two years would recognize most of the songs, like "Banshee Cry" and the fail-proof "Moore Street Girls," and some of the stories before them, like Ian Byrne's fishing story before "Story of a Fish."

But the Elders had a few new twists for this crowd, including songs like "Better Days Ahead."  They saved the best for the end, inviting the 50-plus member Shawnee Mission East High School choir to join them on stage for the rendition of "Men of Erin."

The choir's vocals weren't resoundingly clear back where I was standing (a couple hundred yards from the stage), but they were strong enough to give the song a refreshing gospel flavor -- the kind we used to hear at midnight Mass.

They stayed on stage for "Devil's Tongue" and then "Ten-Pound Ear Hole." And unlike a Greek chorus, an Irish chorus isn't there to deliver conscience or commentary; they're there for the party, and by the time the band started "Devil's Tongue" the SME bunch shed the robes and jumped in the fray.

Above: Ewan Brown of the Glengarry Bhoys heaves into the bagpipes.

Before the Elders took over the main stage , more than a dozen other bands and singers had performed at the festival's three stages. On the main stage: the Canadian band Glengarry Bhoys, who fuse Celtic music with the sounds of Scotland and their native Canada (especially Acadia).

Gaelic Storm followed the Bhoys, and by then the crowd in front of the terrace stage was as large as it was last year when the Elders performed -- an ominous sign. Gaelic Storm is a Celtic/American band that gives traditional Celtic music a contemporary sheen, but it can sound old-school when it wants to, as it did during the Canadian drinking song, "Barrett's Privateers."

Above: Niamh Dunne, who plays fiddle and sings for Beoga. To her right: Ireland's bodhrán champion. Eamon Murray.

While Gaelic Storm was keeping the big crowd happy at the main stage, Beoga was giving Celtic music a different twist at the Boulevard Stage.  Beoga calls itself a "traditional" band, though one with a guy, Liam Bradley, who plays a Yamaha keyboard. They also have two accordionists, who keep the band's sound rooted in their native traditions. However, this band likes to swerve and glide into other flavors, especially jazz and American blues.

Beoga drew a big, appreciative crowd, although some seemed to be there just so they could grab a folding chair, sit down and not deal with the throng up at the main stage. In 2003, a biblical two-day monsoon washed away the inaugural Kansas City Irish Festival and nearly broke it.

Above: Long before Gaelic Storm was over, the Terrace Stage was packed and people were still pouring up the stairs and onto the lawn.

According to someone-in-the-know, this year's turnout not only wiped out the debt, it had given the festival a healthy reserve. After watching some people grumble about not being able to get in (or have to wait to re-enter) now organizers may have to worry about being too popular. How do you say "Be careful what you wish for" in Gaelic?

| Timothy Finn, The Star

Halfway through the Elders' set, a fireworks display entertained anyone down outside the gates who couldn't get in. The festival continues today. For a schedule, visit the festival site.

Comments

[Gary]

No mention of Tullamore? I saw them at the Ren Fest and they play a great selection of Irish tunes.