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CHIEFTAINS CONCERT REPORT

I must say that the Chieftains put on one HELL of a show!! That hour and a half of music was seriously an amazing and heartwarming experience. There was some major energy building in the audience and it's all because of the best Irish band the world has ever known.

The concert took place at the lovely outdoor Cuthbert Ampitheater located in the middle of Alton Baker Park in Eugene. It's set up so there's a semi-circle lawn at the top, and a lower level of wooden benches, also in a semicircle. My parents sat on the lawn, but I went up to the wooden benches so I could get a much closer look at the band. I knew I'd regret it if I didn't sit as close as I could. I ended up with a third-row seat and could see everything perfectly.

The concert was supposed to start at 7:30 but the band didn't come out until nearly eight. That is because the sun was still out and still pretty bright, and the band didn't want their instruments to get hurt by the rays. Once it shaded up, they came out and started the show. In addition to the usual members (Paddy Moloney on bagpipes, Kevin Conneff on vocals and bodhran, Matt Molloy on flute and Sean Keane on fiddle) there were a few other musicians joining in. There was a blond, bearded young fiddler from Canada who also did some dancing; a bluegrass guitar player whose name I have forgotten; a female harp and keyboard player whose name I believe is Triona Marshall; a redheaded female singer; and a couple stepdancers from Canada and Long Island. These additional members were quite good and added their own special touches to the music.

Paddy Moloney played M.C. for the evening and kept the audience laughing with his jokes and banter. He's a really great man and seems like he'd be a joy to be around. The other members were just as nice, although not as chatty as Paddy.

Midway through the concert, a birthday cake was brought out for birthday boy Sean Keane! That was quite unexpected and really cool. He took a moment to blow the candles out while the audience sang "Happy Birthday."

The concert was structured as such: the band did numerous sets of tunes, some traditional and some not. For example, a couple sets were dedicated to bluegrass music and one was for songs from their famous collaborations with pop artists. Interspersed with these sets were solo performances by many of the band members. The best of these was by the young fiddler whose name I did not catch. I'm not sure if he's an official member of the band or just touring with them. He did a SCORCHING set of what sounded to me like Cape Breton reels. He bowed away on that thing and held the audience in his spell. I think that was the highlight of the night for me.

There was a tribute to Derek Bell played, and a song by Kevin, and lots of stepdancing. One hilarious moment came when a little girl by the stage tried to do her own dancing and ended up with her undies falling to her feet! The audience was cracking up at that.

They did a big finale with solos by each band member and even came out for an encore set of reels. Then the lights dimmed and the audience, myself certainly included, went home very happy. The Chieftains are amazing, wonderful, incredible musicians and they are worth every penny you'll spend on tickets. For a bit over 90 minutes tonight, they transformed a big outdoor ampitheater into a smokey pub in Dublin where the music flows as fast as the Guinness. I'm extremely happy to have had the opportunity to see them perform live. They are living legends, true, but they're also just an excellent bunch of musicians.