Feet of Flames....and a Boxwood Rudall
- cocusflute
- Posts: 1064
- Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2003 12:15 pm
Music I hate?
I too made my living playing in a band for years- in fact we were together over twenty years. I didn't hate the music, although at times I got bored. Sometimes I felt we were praised when we didn't play particularly well and at other times I felt we were unfairly ignored. It wasn't about us, though - it was about entertaining. Putting on a show. It wasn't a session.
My wife and I went to a big show at the Glor, in Ennis, a few weeks ago. Some of the people who played there were Matt Molloy, Sean Keane, Paddy Moloney, Paddy Canny, Matt Cranitch, Liam O' Floinn, Joe Burke, Peadar O’Riada. The Kilfenora and the Tulla ceili bands. It was a good show. But not as good as when I heard Tommy Peoples all by himself. That was something.
Not to belabor the point - but it's hard to criticize somebody as good as Flatley, and his excellent fiddlers and dancers. You might not like it. It's a bit too glitsy for me too. I even feel that way about The Chieftains these days, to tell you the truth.
But it's still a great show, innit?
My wife and I went to a big show at the Glor, in Ennis, a few weeks ago. Some of the people who played there were Matt Molloy, Sean Keane, Paddy Moloney, Paddy Canny, Matt Cranitch, Liam O' Floinn, Joe Burke, Peadar O’Riada. The Kilfenora and the Tulla ceili bands. It was a good show. But not as good as when I heard Tommy Peoples all by himself. That was something.
Not to belabor the point - but it's hard to criticize somebody as good as Flatley, and his excellent fiddlers and dancers. You might not like it. It's a bit too glitsy for me too. I even feel that way about The Chieftains these days, to tell you the truth.
But it's still a great show, innit?
-
- Posts: 57
- Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:10 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: USA, New Jersey
Absolutly. My working band isn't Irish music either. It's a variety band. hip hop, funk, rock, pop, top 40. I know what you mean. Some of the places I play on the Jersey shore pack in 1200 people. I sometimes make believe they're actually there to "listen" to our music. But they love it, they dance, drink, and go home happy after a week of hard work.
Take care,
Lee
Take care,
Lee
- BrendanB
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2003 3:56 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Washington DC
Re: The Show
For a lot of the people in the show, it's probably a similar experience. It's a chance to make money playing tunes and travel the world. They may not really be into the music, but it is a fun experience. My favorite part of the clips is actually the close up of Flatley next to Cora Smyth. She is looking at him the entire time with this sort of bemused, "you are such an idiot" look on her face.Kame wrote: I do agree with you, as I make a living playing in a band that plays music I hate and have to watch clubbers booty grind all night long. It's a paycheck. But There's something different when a real session is going on.
B
- crookedtune
- Posts: 4255
- Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2006 7:02 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Location: Raleigh, NC / Cape Cod, MA
Re: The Show
Exactly the look Richards used to give Jagger on stage. I'm sure they loved their music, and at it's best it was very, very good. But the performance situation is something else entirely. On "the big" stage, music is product.BrendanB wrote:Kame wrote: She is looking at him the entire time with this sort of bemused, "you are such an idiot" look on her face.
B
The way I look at it is this: the musicians get to work in their field, no one's getting hurt, the audience is happy. Everybody wins.
Moral: For theater, go to big shows. For music, go to the clubs, or better yet, make it yourself.
Charlie Gravel
“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.”
― Oscar Wilde
“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.”
― Oscar Wilde
-
- Posts: 57
- Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:10 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: USA, New Jersey
Re: The Show
very nicely put crooked. i kind of like that "chicken dance" that Jagger does. hehe. See you on whistlethis.crookedtune wrote:Exactly the look Richards used to give Jagger on stage. I'm sure they loved their music, and at it's best it was very, very good. But the performance situation is something else entirely. On "the big" stage, music is product.
The way I look at it is this: the musicians get to work in their field, no one's getting hurt, the audience is happy. Everybody wins.
Moral: For theater, go to big shows. For music, go to the clubs, or better yet, make it yourself.
Lee (acidhead)
- cocusflute
- Posts: 1064
- Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2003 12:15 pm
BrendanB says
Why would any serious musician think Flatley is an idiot? World-class dancer, world-class flute player, and worth about $50,000,000 to boot. Cora Smyth knows this and respects him, even if you don't.
The Great Rafferty and Matt Molloy each say that Michael Flatley is a great guy and a true gentleman. That's enough for me.
Of course they're into the music. It's absurd to suggest they could play like that and not be totally into the music, fer crissake.They may not really be into the music.... My favorite part of the clips is ... the close up of Flatley next to Cora Smyth. She is looking at him... with this sort of bemused, "you are such an idiot" look on her face.
Why would any serious musician think Flatley is an idiot? World-class dancer, world-class flute player, and worth about $50,000,000 to boot. Cora Smyth knows this and respects him, even if you don't.
The Great Rafferty and Matt Molloy each say that Michael Flatley is a great guy and a true gentleman. That's enough for me.
- Loren
- Posts: 8393
- Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2001 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free - Location: Loren has left the building.
- daiv
- Posts: 716
- Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 7:01 am
- antispam: No
- Location: Just outside of Chicago, next to some cornfields
Re: The Show
ok, the guy can play. his air was a bit too cheesy for me, but i thought the stuff on youtube and the show's site was a lot better. however, dont say that no one gets hurt! i got hurt. i had trouble sleeping last night, with images of his twitching eyebrows and hidden smirks while playing. in my sleep-deprived delirium, i really thought i was ruined for life. having recovered, i can say i've never seen something so funny as when the girl whips off her shirt to show an american flag bikini top.crookedtune wrote: The way I look at it is this: the musicians get to work in their field, no one's getting hurt, the audience is happy. Everybody wins.
Last edited by daiv on Thu Dec 07, 2006 12:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
- treeshark
- Posts: 952
- Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2003 6:00 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: London
- Contact:
Re: The Show
Ah the day that happens to a flute player you know yer playing is really hitting the spot.daiv wrote: i can say i've never seen something so funny as when the girl whips off her shirt to show an american flag bikini top.
- Jon C.
- Posts: 3526
- Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2001 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: I restore 19th century flutes, specializing in Rudall & Rose, and early American flutes. I occasionally make new flutes. Been at it for about 15 years.
- Location: San Diego
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MQx5_E- ... ed&search=
Here is another great Flatley clip.
Here is another great Flatley clip.
"I love the flute because it's the one instrument in the world where you can feel your own breath. I can feel my breath with my fingers. It's as if I'm speaking from my soul..."
Michael Flatley
Jon
Michael Flatley
Jon
- Cathy Wilde
- Posts: 5591
- Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2003 4:17 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Location: Somewhere Off-Topic, probably
Re: The Show
Thank you, CF.cocusflute wrote:It's a show. It is live.
It is not pre-recorded.
Flatley is a great dancer.
Flatley is a great flute player.
The fiddlers are great fiddlers.
All the dancers are great dancers.
It's something other than the pure drop- a show.
At times it is over the top. You certainly don't have to like it.
As Seamus Tansey would say, "To Hell with the Begrudgers."
Deja Fu: The sense that somewhere, somehow, you've been kicked in the head exactly like this before.
- Cathy Wilde
- Posts: 5591
- Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2003 4:17 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Location: Somewhere Off-Topic, probably
Uh-oh, a big IMO ...... whether it's your style or not, don't think the guy couldn't play rings around most of us with one hand tied behind his back in a session, either, and I bet he's been to enough as a lad to know the drill just fine.
And, although Riverdance is not my cup of tea, I suspect anyone who's made a dime in some aspect of Irish music in the last, say, 10 years might owe at least a small thank you to Flatley and the whole Riverdance phenomenon -- as over the top as it is, it introduced a fairly small corner ofculture to the world at large and sparked (sparkled? ) significant interest in return.
I mean ... thanks to Riverdance, we've got more little girls at feis and fleadhanna (whether we like the wigs or not), which means we've got more feis and fleadhanna, period, which means we need a few more musicians to play at them, which means there might be a nice session at a feis or fleadh near you, which means there might be more interest in the music in general, which means more and better players, not to mention bands, performers, recordings, and instrument makers ....
Basically, it's created a demand for what we love to do. Nothing wrong with that in my book.
True, it's sort of like going to Disney World to learn about China, but it is an introduction, nonetheless. And there's some good fallout from it, too -- fallout we all all benefit from. Meanwhile, a few more people get serious about the culture and history and get involved.
Finally (and maybe I don't have the best taste either), "rockin'" music is rockin' music, infectious for all but the most jaded who are playing it at the time. I've done the "Enya-ey" harp & flute type gigs, and when the music gels it's wonderful, doesn't matter what we're playing. Same for my weird hybrid Bluegrass experiment (more cowbell!). When we settle into just the right groove in the Blackberry Blossom, whistle and all, I don't CARE what we're playing. I just care that it feels good, feels fun, and seems to feel good to the listener, too. And if you don't like it, you just don't listen or watch. But if you do, then hey, have fun, and thanks!
So bottom line, I get just as much juice from a lovely corny moment as I do from a really great traditional session (which is my preferred hangout) where everything comes together. It's the coming together, the "music of the spheres" that makes it wonderful.
No, what's really hard is when you have to do that show night after night and it's NOT gelling.
But when it does? I don't think you worry too much about what you're playing or who you're playing it with. You're too busy having fun and riding the wave because alas, it's going to end all too soon.
K, I'll shut up now.
And, although Riverdance is not my cup of tea, I suspect anyone who's made a dime in some aspect of Irish music in the last, say, 10 years might owe at least a small thank you to Flatley and the whole Riverdance phenomenon -- as over the top as it is, it introduced a fairly small corner ofculture to the world at large and sparked (sparkled? ) significant interest in return.
I mean ... thanks to Riverdance, we've got more little girls at feis and fleadhanna (whether we like the wigs or not), which means we've got more feis and fleadhanna, period, which means we need a few more musicians to play at them, which means there might be a nice session at a feis or fleadh near you, which means there might be more interest in the music in general, which means more and better players, not to mention bands, performers, recordings, and instrument makers ....
Basically, it's created a demand for what we love to do. Nothing wrong with that in my book.
True, it's sort of like going to Disney World to learn about China, but it is an introduction, nonetheless. And there's some good fallout from it, too -- fallout we all all benefit from. Meanwhile, a few more people get serious about the culture and history and get involved.
Finally (and maybe I don't have the best taste either), "rockin'" music is rockin' music, infectious for all but the most jaded who are playing it at the time. I've done the "Enya-ey" harp & flute type gigs, and when the music gels it's wonderful, doesn't matter what we're playing. Same for my weird hybrid Bluegrass experiment (more cowbell!). When we settle into just the right groove in the Blackberry Blossom, whistle and all, I don't CARE what we're playing. I just care that it feels good, feels fun, and seems to feel good to the listener, too. And if you don't like it, you just don't listen or watch. But if you do, then hey, have fun, and thanks!
So bottom line, I get just as much juice from a lovely corny moment as I do from a really great traditional session (which is my preferred hangout) where everything comes together. It's the coming together, the "music of the spheres" that makes it wonderful.
No, what's really hard is when you have to do that show night after night and it's NOT gelling.
But when it does? I don't think you worry too much about what you're playing or who you're playing it with. You're too busy having fun and riding the wave because alas, it's going to end all too soon.
K, I'll shut up now.
Last edited by Cathy Wilde on Mon Dec 04, 2006 11:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
Deja Fu: The sense that somewhere, somehow, you've been kicked in the head exactly like this before.