Irish I Were a Rover

Last weekend I drove up to Pennsylvania where the Renaissance Festival was having their Celtic Weekend, aka "Celtic Fling." Really, I was there to meet my best friend, whom I haven't seen since graduation since she lives in New York, admire copious amounts of kilts, and party with the Rovers, the Irish band I love so much. As I've mentioned before, the Rovers are a local Annapolis band that combines rock with Irish tunes. We've been into their music for awhile, so the band knows us well. In fact, they put us to work, making us help carry their bags out to the truck after the show! I can't say I minded too much.

I got to carry the bagpipes. That's probably the most precious bag I've carried in my entire life.

There were so many bands at Celtic Fling, and I got a taste of most of them at the Ceilidh on Saturday night. At this finale, each band played one song. We left a little early just to beat the crowd, so I did miss a few acts, but let me just say there was no shortage on bagpipes. I enjoyed this part of Celtic Fling a lot since I knew I wouldn't have a chance to see the other bands during the day when we'd be watching the Rovers, as we do.

Of course we stayed through all 6 of the Rovers sets over the 2-day Fling - that was never a question!

The difference between the Rovers' pub shows and their festival shows like Celtic Fling is simply the selection they play. At the pub, they often mix their album work with covers of non-Irish or non-traditional songs, from "Where the Streets Have No Name" to "Come On Eileen" to "What I Got." Festivals tend to have more of an Irish focus. Logical, right?

What this means is that you will hear the same song over and over and over again (...and maybe one more time), sometimes by different bands and sometimes by the same band playing a later show. And my friends and I went to every Rovers show, all 6 sets as well as their performance at the Ceilidh. While there was some variety, there were a lot of repeats.

After awhile you'd think that this would get annoying. And, yeah, sometimes it can. I certainly won't be playing "Finnegan's Wake" anytime soon. But the Rovers put on such a great show every time that it is easy for me to lose myself in the music and forget that I've heard a song 20 billion times already. Every performance they step up their game, and there is always something that sets one show apart from another.

On top of that, the musicians are great at involving the audience in the show. For me, that's what makes the atmosphere of a Rovers' shows so special. There's a familiar air of community behind those drum beats, fiddle solos, and guitar picks.

In non-Rovers news, Celtic Fling introduced me to a new song which I've fallen in love with. It was played over and over, but not in an annoying way. It was actually very catchy. It definitely had some Irish in it, perhaps some country influences there too. The song is called "Death Feels Like Me Today" by The Town Pants. I highly recommend it. Check it out, because the lyrics are quite clever.

To close up Celtic Fling, we counted only 1 Flogging Molly shirt, about 5 Dropkick Murphys shirts, 2 Miller Lite shirts, and unknown number of Guinness shirts (because there were too many). Also, the title of this post is stolen from a Rovers' set list, so I can't take credit for that. I will, however, take credit for stealing said set list.

[Please note, the Rovers are now known as Dublin 5, and can be found here]

Edited April 2016 from post originally published on July 1, 2012 via Wordpress

#music #concert #IrishMusic #Dublin5