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As the proverbial road rises to meet you, so the popularity of Irish music has been rising recently. This weekend Portland--rather viridian-tinted itself--becomes a home-away-from-home for some of the Emerald Isle's best acts. (The Guinness-sponsored Fleadh festival in San Jose, Calif., may get more press, but what's so damned Irish about Tracy Chapman? Wilco? Los Lobos?!) "Celtic Music Week," as it has been declared, begins with a celebration at City Hall at noon Wednesday featuring dance troupes and the airy acousti-pop of Anam. The merriment focuses on this year's Celtic Festival at Oaks Park, which includes some of the most high-profile talent ever assembled in Puddletown. Kicking off with local dancers Thar An Phail at 5 pm, Friday's music highlights the contemporary visions of some upstart North Americans. Great Big Sea, from chilly Newfoundland, Canada, plays centuries-old sea shanties with youthful vigor (and even gets jigging to R.E.M.'s "The End of the World as We Know It"); Los Angeles' Young Dubliners polish up well-practiced rhythms with modern rock that's electric in both sound and delivery. Friday's big news is headliner Shane MacGowan. During his longtime leadership of the Pogues, MacGowan earned himself a reputation as a poetic lyricist and prodigious lush, though his new band (the suspiciously similar-in-name Popes) props up his whiskey-ravaged persona equally well. Their latest album, The Crock of Gold, is the most traditional-sounding record MacGowan's done since the Pogues' 1984 debut, even if the innumerable potables imbibed between the two albums have made the near-toothless MacGowan a bit marble-mouthed. Simple remedy: Drink two pints of Powers and call me in the morning (or whenever you wake up). Saturday starts with more dancing (Thar An Phail, the Murray Irish Dancers and the Molly Malone Irish Dancers) and local musicians Cúl An Tí. Then Danú, whose seven members commute between Waterford and Dublin in Ireland, will skip, jig and reel its way through a set of traditional tunes; afterward, ask fiddler Daire Bracken what "Willie Week" means to him (hint: he won't say this paper). If Danú's rollicking energy is too much for your post-MacGowan hangover, then the breezy, ethereal voice of Mary Black, a longtime darling of the contemporary-Celtic crowd, may be more to your liking. Following that, local group Hobnail sets the stage for the popular upbeat rock of the Saw Doctors, who've sold zillions of records back home. If you see 'em, you'll be sold on 'em, too. The weekend comes to a close with the widely praised Altan. This combo from County Donegal revs up audiences worldwide with reeling fiddles, then settles back for serene, reflective songs that highlight the gentle Gaelic vocals of Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh. After two full days of ear-filling bills and belly-filling beers, Altan's lush melodies are sure to be the soothing remedy your brain requires. If not, bomb over to Biddy McGraw's, order a perfect pint of stout and see if you can find a pot of gold at the bottom of your glass. L.A.'s Young Dubliners play
on Friday.The much-praised Altan headlines on Saturday. |
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