Mind blowing and surreal music experience

[Rodney Gold]

We are in Ennis , Ireland for a wedding , in this old and rickety but charming hotel.. The Old Ground.. travelled 6000 miles from South Africa to be there

Couldnt sleep well last night and went downstairs and outside to have a fag at 3 am .. maybe 2-3 people in a lounge off the lobby..

Went down again at 4.30 am expecting a totally deserted lobby/lounge and heard some strains of music when approaching the lounge...

Lo and behold , there was a 7 piece Irish/Gaelic band in full tilt with about 20 people surrounding them dancing the jig etc...

2 Accordion players , 2 drum/tambourine , A lute , an 8 string guitar and a violin. All totally unamplified .. the muso's had their eyes closed and the jammin and foot stomping just went on.. absolutely surreal.. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming..

30 minutes later they had to stop as some residents complained... but it was a totally mind blowing experience..both musically and the opportunity to be up close and personal to live unamplified stuff...
Hifi can never come close to this..

The highlight of my Irish experience so far.

 

[audioguy]

We are in Ennis , Ireland for a wedding , in this old and rickety but charming hotel.. The Old Ground.. travelled 6000 miles from South Africa to be there

Couldnt sleep well last night and went downstairs and outside to have a fag at 3 am .. maybe 2-3 people in a lounge off the lobby..

Went down again at 4.30 am expecting a totally deserted lobby/lounge and heard some strains of music when approaching the lounge...

Lo and behold , there was a 7 piece Irish/Gaelic band in full tilt with about 20 people surrounding them dancing the jig etc...

2 Accordion players , 2 drum/tambourine , A lute , an 8 string guitar and a violin. All totally unamplified .. the muso's had their eyes closed and the jammin and foot stomping just went on.. absolutely surreal.. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming..

30 minutes later they had to stop as some residents complained... but it was a totally mind blowing experience..both musically and the opportunity to be up close and personal to live unamplified stuff...
Hifi can never come close to this..

The highlight of my Irish experience so far.

Those kind of experiences pretty much amplify why reproduced music falls a billion miles short of the real deal. I'm surprised they got to play as long as they did prior to someone complaining!!

 

[RBFC]

I hope the rest of your trip provides great fun as well! Moments like those are humbling, but so rewarding!

Lee

 

[treitz3]

To me, this is reference! Too bad you could only enjoy 30 minutes of it but I'm glad you got to experience it, period.

Tom

 

[spiritofmusic]

And they say smoking is bad for you...

 

[amirm]

That is one motivated bad to be playing at 4:30 in the morning! That aside, thanks for sharing the experience with us. I can just imagine how special it must have been.

 

[esldude]

Some of my friends have such a band. I record them sometimes. A very lively kind of music. Must have been very nice to simply trip over such a group playing early in the morning (or more likely late in their night).

Also reminds me there is a bluegrass music hall close to where I live. They play every other Saturday till midnight. A couple miles away is a big restaurant at a truck stop. Lots of the musicians leave there and go to that restaurant. After a meal they often start up jam sessions informally with whomever is there to play. Other customers don't mind nor does the management. If you are by there 2 or 3 am, you are quite likely to walk into a big jam session going on.

 

[Diapason]

A thread like this is great for reminding me how much we take for granted here. It's not a bad New Year's Resolution to try harder to appreciate the good stuff on your doorstep.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the trip. The weather's not always this bad, honest!