While the band revolves around founding members Patrick Murphy and Steve Twigger, who display stunning vocals and excellent guitar work, respectively, Weber and Purvis are the band's secret weapons, providing virtuosic playing on almost every song.
Gaelic Storm
NORTHAMPTON -- Toward the end of Gaelic Storm's second set at the Calvin Theatre Friday night, singer/accordionist Patrick Murphy introduced the song "Drink the Night Away" by calling it a "song about drinking" – as if that distinguished it from most of the other tunes played during the band's energetic two-and-a-half hour show.
G.K. Chesterton once wrote of the Irish, "All their wars are merry and their songs are sad," but the great writer clearly never encountered the side of Celtic music mined by Gaelic Storm. Of the 21 songs played Friday, only a handful could possibly be described as sad. Yet, oddly, those tales of woe may have been among the best of the night. Maybe Chesterton was on to something.
The concert kicked off with an accordion-driven “Piña Colada in a Pint Glass." This was followed by a hyper-percussive lead-in to "I Miss My Home," which featured a triple threat solo that included harmonica, Irish whistle and fiddle. While the Gaelic Storm's lyrics may often lean toward the jokey side, their musicianship is dead serious. This was further proved on the next song, the instrumental "Dead Bird Hill," which intertwined syncopated Celtic rhythms with magnificent playing by new fiddler Kiana Weber and multi-instrumentalist Peter Purvis, who switched between pipes and Irish whistle throughout the tune.
While the band revolves around founding members Patrick Murphy and Steve Twigger, who display stunning vocals and excellent guitar work, respectively, Weber and Purvis are the band's secret weapons, providing virtuosic playing on almost every song. Add in the sinewy and superb playing of drummer Ryan Lacey, and Gaelic Storm is certainly a force of nature.
During Murphy's introduction to "The Night I Punched Russell Crowe," he called out a woman in the first row for talking on her cell phone.
"Let me see that," he said, taking the phone from the woman before saying into the phone, "Who is this?"
It turned out to be the woman's son, Sean, so Murphy said, "Sean, this is Patrick from Gaelic Storm and your mother is being very rude," as the crowd erupted in laughter and applause. Murphy then had the crowd shout "Hi Sean!" to the boy before returning the phone.
The band then played the Russell Crowe tune, which is a better story than it is a song, but the audience ate it up. A few songs later, the first set ended with "Raised on Black and Tans." As the band headed offstage for the break, Murphy announced they had Gaelic Storm merchandise for sale, and Twigger tossed one item into the crowd for a luck fan. Murphy, showing some keen and cheeky wit, said, "That was like a pass from Peyton Manning to Wes Welker," which of course brought boos from the crowd. Murphy flashed an impish grin and replied, "Hey don't blame me, you're the guys who let him go."
The second set included several sadder songs, which were the highlight of the evening. Twigger showcased some fine guitar work on the intro to the traditional tune, "Black is the Color," which he also sang, giving Murphy' great voice a break from lead vocals. The song once again featured gorgeous interplay between Weber and Purvis, who wove a mournful feel into the fabric of the instrumental break with fiddle and Uilleann pipes. It also featured beautiful harmonies and great dynamic range. It was also the first truly slow song of the show.
"The Storks of Guadalajara" showcased Lacey's formidable percussion skills, with the drummer coming out front to solo on a box drum while Twigger and Murphy kept a steady rhythm playing Irish bodhráns (a hand-held frame drum.) The second set ended with the upbeat "One More Day Above the Roses."
The three-song encore was highlighted by another sad song sung by Twigger, "Lover's Wreck," and the great traditional "Tell Me Ma."