Irish and other eyes will be smiling when Irish Descendants come to Brockville March 15
Posted Mar 4, 2010 By Conan De Vries
Email
Print
Tweet This
Click to Enlarge
EMC Entertainment - An Irish Descendants concert isn't so much a concert as it is a party set to music. 
Submitted photo
The Irish Descendants play the Brockville Arts Centre on Monday, March 15, two days before that most popular of Irish holidays.
The wildly popular Celtic band from Newfoundland is bringing its spirited mix of great songs, fine musicianship and sincere, often hilarious, banter to Brockville this month, and tickets are already selling briskly.
"Theatre shows are where we do our best work," says bandleader Con O'Brien, eager to return to Brockville and play the newly refurbished Brockville Arts Centre.
"We relish these types of shows. You get an audience that's really into what you're doing."
The people of Vancouver were certainly into what the Descendants were doing during the Olympics last week. The group played four different venues throughout the two-week street party that accompanied the sporting exhibition and left the crowds wanting more.
"It was electrifying," recalls O'Brien. "You could sense it on every street corner. It's hard to describe."
It was a perfect place for a band that thrives on energy, both generating it and receiving it from the enthusiastic audiences that eagerly fill the seats wherever they might happen to set up their instruments and a microphone, be it a bar, an auditorium or an outdoor festival.
"We have a great fan base that's been very loyal to us over the years," says O'Brien.
It's been about 20 years since the band first took up together, and in that time, the group has recorded nine original albums and two greatest hits compilations, the latest - Encore: Volume 2 - having been released last October.
The band's current tour, which, before it comes to Brockville, will take the group to Texas and then back to Canada for a trip down the 401 is a celebration of its 20th anniversary.
Since record labels and concert promoters don't sign acts that can't sell albums and fill seats, the Descendants' longevity is a testament to their continued success and unflagging popularity.
"Our recipe has always been to find songs we think our audience will like, and we know our audience pretty well," says O'Brien. "It's a recipe we've been using a long time."
Although they're stars in the rest of the country, the Irish Descendants are superstars in their home province, so they try to return to Newfoundland as often as possible, despite a hectic touring schedule that has taken them around the world.
"It's like you're torn between two lovers," says O'Brien, describing how much the band enjoys being out on the road while at the same time welcoming the chance to return back east.
But you certainly don't have to go to Newfoundland to appreciate Celtic music or the long-standing cultural traditions it represents. The music is popular on the west coast, in central Canada, Quebec, across the prairies and down into the United States as well.
"The Celtic culture has made its mark right across the country," says O'Brien.
The biggest problem the Irish Descendants have when putting on a concert is selecting the set list. With such a large body of work from which to choose, it's always a juggling act figuring out which songs to include and which to leave out.
"Every song on every album is somebody's favourite somewhere."
Since their last visit to Brockville, the band has released two more albums, Southern Shore and the aforementioned Encore, and will likely incorporate some material from those two works into the show, along with old favourites and maybe even some songs nobody has heard yet.
"We might be trying out some new material."
It doesn't really matter what they play, audiences never leave an Irish Descendants concert dissatisfied, and the Brockville audience in particular is one O'Brien remembers fondly.
The band plays the Brockville Arts Centre on Monday, March 15, two days before that most popular of Irish holidays.
"It will help give people a pre-St. Patrick's Day shot in the arm."
The show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $39 each and available at the Brockville Arts Centre box office or online at www.brockvilleartscentre.com.
blog comments powered by Disqus
