Reviews
St Patrick's Night '06
Ealing Gazette - March 2006
The sold-out sign on the door demonstrated the popularity of both St Patrick's Night and the Dublin City Workingman's Band.
First up though was talented harpist Katie Crean, followed by girl band Rudella, both playing some lovely traditional tunes. The DCWB are Kieron Kenny, Bodhran, Ger loughlin, vocals/guitar, Bob Staines, vocals/guitar, Larry Shaw, fiddle, and Jason Tingey, banjo. Following unashamedly in the footsteps of The Dubliners, the four chaps in The DCWB deliver the old favourites with raw energy. The 1960s ballad boom seems to be a bit out of fashion, overtaken by the new wave of Celtic groups which have emerged in the last decade. But these lads - whose distinctive name derives from The City of Dublin Working Men's Club where they used to play on a weekly basis - are doing their best to revive it and have earned the approval of that gravelly-voiced veteran of The Dubliners, probably the greatest exponents of the Irish ballad revival - Ronnie Drew.
The Irish Centre was packed, with people sitting on coats in the space allotted for the expected dancing. The energetic in the audience were soon up on their feet, with a good number of under-25s among the most exuberant. Starting with the traditional Whiskey In The Jar, this was what people wanted on Paddy's night. The tale of men building Irish roads was told in the Hot Asphalt, and Dominic Behan's ode to Irish construction workers - McAlpine Fusiliers - added humour and romance. Ireland has been supplying Britain with labour for decades, and Behan's witty tribute to the men who built our roads and buildings conveys the harshness and humour of many of these men's lives. Shane MaGowan's Sally MacLennane, Ewan MacColl's Dirty Old Town - father of the late Kirsty MacColl, and singing partner to Shane in the Fairy Tale Of New York Christmas single - reminded us of the contemporary songs which have been accepted into the Irish ballad folk genre. MacColl's song is in fact about Salford, in Manchester.
A reference to the Iraq war produced Enoch Kent's anti-nuclear comic tale of The Button Pusher, popularised by the great Luke Kelly of The Dubliners. There is more to the DCWB than just raucous singing, as they interspersed their set with several lively instrumental tunes, something they could exploit more. But a great night, nonetheless.
Kevin Vose, Trinity Mirror Southern.
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