Welcome to the pond

All right! Well, I’m back from the Kila concert, and it was a blast! There were six guys there: A guy playing bass guitar (very well I might add), a guy who mostly played acoustic guitar and djembe, Ronan who mostly played Bodhran and other percussion instruments, a guy who played low whistle and guitar, a bagpiper, and a guy who played flute, sax, whistle, and percussion. The set lasted about an 2 and a half hours, including intermission and encore. They were missing their fiddler, which distressed me greatly because fiddle is a key part of Irish music.

They played a lot of traditional-sounding Irish tunes, with flute and pipes, backed by guitars, and underneath all that the WONDERFUL bodhran playing of Ronan. These were great tunes that got to almost a drone quality, very hypnotic, as Irish music can be. Other songs were more percussion oriented, more rock oriented. They had great energy, building and building, with the percussion rocking out throughout the whole song. They can really groove with those drums. Ronan sang on some songs, he sang in Irish in a fashion I would describe as “Irish rap.” It’s quite entertaining. His band mates backed him up with their own vocals, and they got into some amazing harmonies. Some of the songs just featured the drums and percussion, and that worked well. One of my fav songs was done without the other instruments, just the percussion. It worked good, I must admit.

They also did a few slower songs, including an acapella Irish tune by one of the band members. That was when they started getting a tad bit political, which is excusable. Most of them shared emcee duties, and all displayed that trademark Irish sense of humor. They were very accommodating to the crowd, and even let a BUNCH of people come on stage to dance. They stayed there through the whole set. The group even did a song dedicated to a guy who comes to their shows often, I suppose. An old guy with a long gray beard, kind of a mystic hippie type. The band did an encore after the crowd stood on their feet, clapped and chanted “KILA! KILA!” That was a great tune, one of their new ones. Started out slow, and then gained speed.

Well that was my Kila experience. I loved it, and I recommend their shows to anyone who appreciates Irish music and loves having a good time. You can really groove out to these guys.