First Irish "Trad" Music!

Last night was a transcendental Irish experience. We finally got out to hear some genuine Irish Traditional ("Trad") music and I've almost never had more fun, in my entire life. My dear friend Michaela (met through the running group, she's from B.C. but has lived here 8 years), plays Trad music (the concertina) and took us out for dinner and then to her favorite pub for Trad 'jam sessions'. This was.....the real deal, from beginning to end.
First we met Michaela at her friend Hugo's restaurant in the city centre. Hugo is from Mexico but has been here 18 years and opened a Mexican restaurant in Dublin many years ago (Azteca Cafe). We had a phheeenomenal dinner and, to our surprise, as we walked into the Mexican restaurant, there sat Hugo and Michaela, having their own jam session, serenading the customers with traditional Irish music. Hugo's wife is Irish and turned him onto the Irish flutes many years ago. Now he knows all the tunes.

 Incredible concentration required.

And here's the full experience:

(These are all short clips. This one is 30 seconds)

(13 seconds)

(52 seconds)

To give you some appreciation for the instrument, this concertina is from the mid-1800s (!), and has EIGHTEEN keys on each side (not to mention the bellows which change the pitch and sounds of each combination of notes) We probably heard Michaela play 30 songs last night (and she knows each one perfectly). It is mind-boggling to watch and so beautiful!

Here's a close up:

  

And that was just dinner. Then we made our way over to Devitt's pub, across town, for the full jam session. Another 'real deal' experience. First off, you don't enter through the main pub doors - there is a separate entrance at the side of the pub with a stairs going up to the second floor into, essentially, a second pub. The pub where magic happens. The pub where I became Irish. =)

 One concertina, one Irish Drum (bodhrán), one fiddle, one accordian, one Irish flute and then....we arrived. Enter Michaela, superstar concertina player (finishing her Master's thesis now, on the instrument).

This was a fast one but so amazing to hear them all together. These all sound like a bit of a caucaphony but it sounded perfectly harmonious in person. This video obviously doesn't capture any of the actual bass of it, or the dimension involved, but it was un.be.lievably beautiful.

(short one, 21 seconds)

And then 15 minutes later, there were at least 12 musicians and the group was joined by two more fiddles, another type of drum, a bouzouki (Greek guitar-type instrument), and some singers.

We had to leave after 1/2 an hour in order to get back to our wonderful friends who babysat Norah, but otherwise I would have gladly stayed for four more hours. (being out until 11:30 was a completely surreal experience!) Anyway, I kept turning to Wayne and saying "Nothing makes me happier in this world than hearing this" (ok, barring he and Norah). I wish I could explain this experience because saying "it was beautiful" falls so painfully short. And the music is beautiful but the experience is much more than that. There is something magical and humbling... and so powerful about witnessing people come together, simply for the sake of sharing music. It is incredible! They are not paid, they are not doing it for 'fame' or the prestige of it - they just want to share the music together. It takes amazing talent to play these instruments, and even more vulnerability, to sit in a room and showcase that skill. They are all so humble and, as you can tell, I adored listening to them. (The incredible thing is, this happens every single night of the year in too many pubs to name.)

And the best for last. Michaela is on the left, closest to me. I loved this drum at the end too. She was so fantastic!