Chiff and Fipple Forums

Session with the Pipers

Tuesday 1st December

Traditional Music Recital

James Mahon (Pipes),

Mulcahy Family(Accordion, Fiddle, Flute, Harp),

Roisín White(Songs)



The Cobblestone Bar, 77 North King Street, Dublin 7

Starting at 9:30pm (Doors 9.00pm)

Admission : €12.00 (concession €8.00)

(Please note that the Cobblestone is an Over 18s Only Venue)



Supported by The Arts Council and Dublin City Council

Now is this a session or a gig?
"Traditional Music Recital" would imply a show, not a session, or what?
Why advertise it as a a session?

When is the last time you went to a session with a cover charge?

Maybe I should start charging a special cover fee for bodhran owners, guitar strummers, and beginning whistlers at my sessions: "you can join us, but that will be $12, please."

It's a gig, obviously. "Session with the Pipers" is part of an ongoing series of performances at the Cobblestone Pub arranged by Cobblestone's management and Na Piobairi Uilleann.

As for why advertise it as a session, why not? This isn't the first time a pub advertised a gig in that manner, and it sure isn't the last.

* edited for grammatic errors

Well for me there has always been a difference between session and gig or show. I have not come across gigs advertised as sessions here, I guess it is different in your parts. I live and learn. Wish you much success with the gig!

hans wrote:I have not come across gigs advertised as sessions

You haven't spent time in Temple Bar, have you?

Oh for Goddess' Sakes can we not get so autistic about the usage of a word whose meaning is NOT as restricted as you make out?

I know that 'session' connotes a particular thing in an ITM (Irish Tunehead Music) context but surely you know what the OP meant. Ever heard of a concert session? Hmm?

If its a concert it becomes a SESSION of listening for the others. That is a VITAL element of traditional music. Listening and feeling.

What happens here is that the good name of the Irish traditional music session is exploited to attract punters to a pub not only to buy drinks but pay at the door as well. It is a commercialisation of tradition. Many here care about Irish traditional music, and often it is talked about "playing in a session". Surely those who care about tradition don't wish to see the traditional pub music session getting gradually rebranded into a commercial pub show?

true hans.

however, that said, i would pay money to watch a decent ensamble with some pipes hammer out some tunes. Our local free-form sessions can sometimes fall into amature folk string orchestras, sometimes i would like to hear the tunes played well bu a controlled group... just sometimes mind.

false advertising: yes
a bit cheekey: yes
might confuse people: yes
would i still pay to see it: yes

I think the angst is misdirected here. NPU is a great organization that does a lot for the promotion, teaching, and preservation of uilleann piping. The Cobblestone is a rare thing - a "music pub" that has actual Irish traditional music of a very high quality on a regular basis instead of the usual hackneyed minstrel show BS that most of the world associates with the words "Irish music."

Not sure from where you get an impression of Angst!
I never questioned the quality of the music offered, or if it is ITM or not.
I only questioned the use of the word "session" in the advert, since in ITM it generally has a different meaning than "performance" or "recital". That's all.
And you have not really explained why it is used, "why not" is not an answer.

hans wrote:.....
And you have not really explained why it is used, "why not" is not an answer.

I think I already did that.

@napiob
how was the concert? can we have a review session about it?
thanks.

talasiga wrote:

hans wrote:.....
And you have not really explained why it is used, "why not" is not an answer.

I think I already did that.

You did nothing of the sort.
You admitted that "session" has a special connotation in ITM context, but then you disregarded that and instead questioned my mental abilities. Yes, surely i know that "session" can mean a number of things, but in ITM context the meaning is quite specific, but unfortunately this gets exploited for commercial reasons.

@napiob.
perhaps you can clarify what happened at the concert,
whether Cobblestone Bar is famous for hosting Irish traditional music in Dublin,
whether the advertisement for it was only meant for ITM musicians.

I don't see what was so confusing in the OP. It clearly stated that the event was a "Traditional Music Recital" and listed well-known players who would be performing. The title "Session with the Pipers" was obviously meant to convey the fact that the performance will try to recreate what one would hear in a top-notch open session.

SteveB