HowIt’s Irish: Clannad is anIrish band from Gweedore, County Donegal. The band’s music is a blend of traditionalIrish, folk rock, and New Age.
John Kearns reviews Clannad in concert in New York last week, on their first American tour in 19 years, reports back on what the artists said during a tour of the band's catalogue and songs that reached back hundreds of years!
Read our earlier interview with Moya here, and listen to her on a podcast we did last spring here! Stay tuned for another podcast with Moya!
On October 2,2012, legendary Irish band Clannad performed in New York City for the firsttime in 17 years, playing a varied selection of tunes old and new, traditionaland original, contemplative and rowdy. Many in the audience seem tohave been waiting expectantly since the group’s last performance and recognizedtheir favorite songs in a single synthesizer chord.
Formed in 1970, Clannadis a family band composed of siblings and twin uncles. Moya Brennan plays the harp and is on leadvocals. Ciarán Brennan, who contributeda few original songs to the evening, is on bass, keyboard, and vocals. Pól Brennan is a virtual one-man band onguitar, flute, tin whistle, keyboards, and vocals. The Brennan’s uncles, Noel and Pádraig Duggan,are on mandolin and vocals and guitar, respectively. Jed Lynch backed up the band with his drumkit and congas and Ian Parker played keyboard. 
The family membersseemed to be happy to be playing in New York again, putting their voicestogether for their trademark ethereal harmonies, dancing easily and freely, and<having a couple of laughs before an audience that included old friends andrelatives. I met a first cousin of theBrennans who had traveled from Gweedore. Moya mentioned that her brother was in the lobby selling Clannadt-shirts.
(Moya’s brotherwas kind enough to allow me to put flyers on his table for the Irish AmercanWriters and Artists’ Annual Eugene O’Neill Award Celebration for Judy Collinson October 15th. Visit i-am-wa.org.)
Clannad played twosets at the beautiful, churchlike Concert Hall with its impressive wordwork,pews, and marvellous acoustics. The first set focused on older, traditional Irish songs, almostall in the Irish language. After theshow, Pól said that the band did a lot of research, digging through itsalbums from the 70s to choose the first set’s songs. The second set, also sung mostly in Irish, incorporatedsome of Clannad’s more pop tunes, featuring music from the soundtracks oftelevision series and movies such as Harry’sGame and The Last of the Mohicans.
Moya’s harp at the forefront and the traditional Donegal andConnacht tunes connected the evening’s performance to some of the oldestIrish musical traditions. The keyboards(at times three played simultaneously), drums, and electric bass added modernnotes to the music, though when mixed with the group’s haunting vocal harmoniesstill managed to sound ancient.
Clannad opened the show with a song from Tory Island called “NaBuachailli Alainn” (“The Beautiful Boys”), followed by another song in Irish, “BeautifulMoya.” Though the song is about a lovelyDonegal woman, Moya Brennan quipped, “it is not about me.”
The next song, a working song used when the Brennan siblings were weaving nets with their grandmother, had a stronger beat. In the song, the singers remind one anotherin Irish, “When I move, you move.” Theband then evoked a more romantic mood with a song about a couple happily lostin a “stuckle field.”
Clannad reached back to the 18th century for itsnext two songs, by blind harper, Turlough O’Carolan. Accordingto Moya, O’Carolan liked to sing about two things, “whiskey and women.” The two selected tunes, “Eleanor Plunkett” and“Fairly Shut of Her” were about the latter. It was treat to hear these centuries-old songs on Moya Brennan’s harp,accompanied by the band.
Jed Lynch gave the original song, “Tower Hill,” a littlespice by switching to the conga drums.
The next three songs were about money and love. The first, “Something to Believe In,” writtenwhen Ireland’s economy was ailing in the 1980s, is unfortunately relevant againtoday. The second was a song in Irishabout a rich young woman who was warned not to fall for a fellow newly arrivedin her village. Disregarding the advice,the young woman married the man who promptly went out and spent all of hermoney. The third countered the greedyyoung man’s attitude by singing, “It’s better to marry for love than money.”
The first set concluded with, “An T’Ull”(“The Apple”) mentioning many place names throughout the west of Ireland and therousing “Two Sisters,” which got the crowd clapping their hands and singing, “I’llbe true unto my love/If you’ll be true to me.”
During the second set, both performers and audience seemed abit more comfortable and ready to enjoy some lively music. The set opened with the crowd-pleasing, “Themefrom Harry’s Game” and an energetic song in Irish commanding, “Get up and puton your clothes.”
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“dTigeas a Damhsa” was followed by aselection of songs from the 1980s about Robin Hood, including the TV showtheme, “Robin the Hooded Man” and “Maid Marion.”
Pól announced to the audience that the next song would be “IWill Find You” from the soundtrack to TheLast of the Mohicans. However,because of technical difficulties, Clannad had to play Dúlamánfirst. The crowd seemed a little disappointedby this but I was happy to hear the group’s creative, echoing vocal work on theupbeat song about edible seaweed, which the chorus claims is “the best inIreland.”
A moving rendition of “I Will Find You” did come next,followed by “In a Lifetime”and “Closer to Your Heart.”
Clannad concluded the second set with a matchmaking songthat once again got the audience clapping along. Mary, a young woman unhappy with the matchthat her parents have made, has run away from home. In the chorus, she is told to come homebecause the match is made. She disagrees,singing “NÃl Sé'n Lá,”(“No, it isn’t.” )
The enthusiastic audience got Clannad to came back out foran encore, for which the group sang a lovelyversion of Yeat’s “Down by the Sally Gardens,” urging everyone to sing alongwith the second pass through the song’s two verses.
After that, folks in the Concert Hall seemed satisfied. We had been taken on a tour through alegendary band’s catalogue, were happy to see them again, and to hear theirpromise not stay away so long this time.
Clannad will be playing gigs in the tri-state area over thenext few days. So you still have achance to catch one of their shows. Visitclannad.ie for more information.
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