January 27, 2005

• While the Manchester police force may, in the past, have suffered from a less than stellar reputation, they are clearly on the right track here. Wanton broadcasting of the fraudulently Celtic dreck produced by Mr. Flatley and Co., at any volume, is an offense from which the public must be protected. It is possible, however, that the officer in this case issued the ticket for excessive noise because there is presently no statute that prohibits one from being an obnoxious twat.
• I owe Flatley and company for introducing me (via my mother) to Anuna so I'm willing to reduce his sentence some. What can I say? I'm a medievalist by avocation. Abiezer_Coppe, can you link to some of your music? My husband and I enjoy Celtic music (np: Battlefield Band) and are always on the lookout for new artists.
• I actually met Mr. Flatley once, at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas. He and I got on the elevator at the same time (well: him, me, his brobdingnagian bodyguard, and his executive secretary). He is very small and smooth-skinned, like an elf, or a normal person that has taken a few minutes of tumbling in one of those rock polishers we all had as kids. He nodded politely in greeting, while the bodyguard glowered. No words were exchanged.
• I also walked about 40 yards behind Vince Neil of Motley Crue for a brief period at the same hotel, but that "brush with greatness" story is even less interesting the previous, if that's possible.
• immlass - I'm strictly street busker standard and the odd pub session I'm afraid so nothing recorded (which may make my criticism of Mr Flatley look like envy-induced sour grapes). Of course this is toungue in cheek to some extent - the article made me smile - but I do dislike the the way Riverdance trades on a tradition that it also debases. Not that that's anything new with Irish music, and the same process happens in country and a lot of other genres. Friends at the Irish Embassy here got me tickets to a fantastic cultural do they sponsored last year with Donal Lunny, an amazing young woman whose name I forget doing sean nos and the incomparable Martin Hayes. Ironically Irish music is big in China mostly on the back of Riverdance. So maybe, as you also show, it can be a bridge to the pure drop.
• Oh, I've been a big Celtic fan for 15 or 20 years--just more in the Scottish tradition (which is more prominent in Texas than the NYC area where I Iive now) than the Irish. I also can't hold a tune in a bucket, so I restrict my singalongs to the shower. I'm jealous of you for getting to see Donal Lunny and Martin Hayes live. That sounds like an awesome event. For anyone wanting to hear what Abiezer_Coppe and I are on about, there's a free download from Martin Hayes on Salon here. You'll have to sit through the ad, but it's worth it.
• Apparently it was the first time they'd shared a stage immlass, so I felt incredibly privileged (and was a bit surprised given their reputation and the way Donal seems to have a hand in so many projects). Scottish does it for me too of course - Aly Bain being the fiddler we all dream of being. I loved the series they made of him touring the States. You've got some home-grown fiddling traditions to be proud of too! England's finest these days would still be Dave Swarbrick I guess. I first heard him on an album I bought for 50p from a charity shop. Looked exceptionally unpromising - dodgy hippy geezer in a very ill-advised cheesecloth shirt on the cover. But oh those tunes within. Oddly I never really listened to Fairport Convention. I ought to give them a try.
• Never mind Flatley - What was that about getting a ticket for having uneaten fruit in the car???
• I'm listening to Hayes right now - and it is truely brilliant. Wow. See, this is why small artists (aka the non-U2's of the world) need at least a few Mp3s around. I've just wishlisted Hayes based on this one download (I really like arrangements with one or two instruments), and I never would have otherwise.
• um, flatley did not score riverdance. bill whelan did. whelan is an accomplished musician and composer and played with planxty in the 1980s. flatley's a dancer and choreographer (and was a boxer, iirc). the dancing in riverdance may be cod irish, but the music is not.
• Bugger. It's a fair cop roryk. Obviously my over-reaction to the dancing stopped me bothering to listen. Still my silly post netted me the excellent Martin Hayes tune immlass linked to so not all in vain. And the Greater Manchester Police really do have a very troubling history of framing people.