a weird and a wonderful show! (from Colin Meloy)
Remember how I thought my bike ride around Peninsula would be tough to beat as the top highlight of this trip? Well, I think it's still going to be tough to beat, but I think I found a worthy competitor.
Last night, my dad and I decided to try the musical pub crawl at Gogarty's Bar in the Temple Bar area, arguably Dublin's liveliest area when it comes to night life, and probably where the most night life oriented tourists flock to when the sun sets. We found the red bricked area filled with revelers as we left Luigi Malones, a spot we had picked out for dinner (not a bad change of pace for those in the mood for some pasta).
As we approached Gogarty's we became slightly leery as we noticed a large, boisterous crowd in side. There was a young French woman handing out brochures and menus outside of the entrance and we asked her if she knew anything about the musical pub crawl that we had read about in our bible, Rick Steves's Ireland. He had given it a three triangle rating, which is his highest for a sight or activity. She had no idea what were talking about, but thought that perhaps Gogarty's would be playing some live music "some time soon, I think". Merci.
After wandering around down the bar for signs of this pub crawl or stairs (it was supposed to be upstairs), I found some stairs going up, just outside on of the entrances/exits. Upon surfacing on the second floor, we found our sign. "Musical Pub Crawl 12 euros" Hurrah!
After paying our dues and getting a chance to nurse yet one more Guinness, we f0llowed the exiting crowd heading down the stairs. Most of us Guinness drinkers didn't realize we'd be leaving the pub right away, so there was some serious guzzling going on before we went out onto the street, where our pub crawl musician/leaders were waiting for us.
With instrument cases in hand, they introduced themselves as Des and Larry. They said they'd be taking us to two pubs, where we'd be spending an hour each. And so we followed them through the Temple Bar street, wading our way through those revelers I spoke of, who looked with wondering eyes at our crowd of about 30 as we were all clearly headed to the same place.
That place turned out to be a place called Brannigans, which wasn't too far away. We were upstairs again, where our crowd reloaded on Guinness, cider and whatever else tickled their fancy for the evening. As with most two level bars that I've been to Ireland, both floors were well equipped with the same taps.
The floor we were on had plush benches and chairs along with some small tables, which brought up a first point made by Larry. He said that if you come into a pub and feel as if you've walked into someone's living room, you've probably come into quality pub. Other places, mostly abroad and renovated areas of Dublin, had what he called a "pub in a box" style, which just wasn't the same experience. Brannigans is the genuine article.
He then went on to explain that the intent of this musical pub crawl was to expose people to traditional Irish folk music. He said most of what you experience in the touristy areas of Dublin,Temple Bar included, is an "Irish show" put on my typically very good musicians, but playing shallow hits like "Whiskey in a Bottle", "Danny Boy" and "Molly Malone", which he said most Irish musicians have stooped to at one more times in their life. Their intent was to get us away from the genre of music and expose us once again to the genuine article.
We were in for a treat. With Larry on fiddle and Des on Guitar, they played a jig, then a reel for us. A jig is something that's done in 6-8 time, Larry explained, so "rashes and sausages", while a reel is done in 4-4 ("black and decker"). Later they would play polka, which he said is very popular among the social dancers of Ireland and is done in 9-8 time "rashes and sausages sausages". By the way, a "rash" is bacon in Ireland.
Back to that treat...They were fantastic, weaving their way through jigs, reels and polkas as we sat and tapped our foot on the ground. Larry explained that the percussion in traditional Irish music is typically produced by the dancing and that unlike your typical rock music, the rhythm is produced by the melodic instruments, not a drum. He did eventually introduced a hand-held goat skin drum to the performance, one I am forgetting the Gaelic name of, but is indigenous to Ireland (along with the Irish bag pipes and harp, 2 of the other 3 indigenous instruments), but it had a little more of a melodic sound to it as he stretched the skin and tapped his fingers.
Des turned out to be the balladeer of the two. He was from northern England and had come to Ireland because of the country's love of folk music and the large, tight-knit community of musicians. He explained that most traditional Irish folk music had been passed down orally between musicians, typically in places that we were currently being entertained. Larry added that what was interesting about learning music this way is that a lot of times musicians often learned songs from musicians that played different instruments, which could effect how they played. For instance, he said he had built a lot of his knowledge from Irish bag pipers and had to improvise his fiddle playing to reproduce some of the effects of the pipes.
Des sang his first ballad in Gaelic and afterwards explained that the language was having a resurgence in the last 15 years, having some all Irish schools and some schools in the west who forced reluctant kids to learn until the age of 16 and 17. I noticed in Dingle that a lot of road signs for towns and sites only used Irish (e.g. An Daingean for Dingle). There has been some controversy around what language(s) should be used. I feel that anything that can be done to preserve the Irish language and culture should be encouraged.
After some more ballads (which sounded wonderful) and music, our musicians packed up and we made our way to the other pub, which I'm kicking myself for not knowing the name of. To get there, we crossed the pretty Ha' Penny bridge, which arches over the Liffey river (falsely rumored to be used in Guinness). This gave us some time in the northern part of Dublin, an area that I haven't spent much time.
Again we were upstairs in a living-room like pub. Along with more wonderful music, we were asked to partake in a "noble call", which means people from the audience would offer songs from the area that they were from, much like is done in traditional Irish pubs (typically rural). This led to a lovely ballad, sang by a Scottish tourist, then a less pleasing Swedish song (he said you typically sing this when you've had too much to drink), then the Illinois fight song sang by an alumni. I know, I know...I countered with On Wisconsin, right? Wrong...I don't know all of the words! Very embarrassing and definitely a low point in my trip here. (Note to self: Learn "On Wisconsin").
The awesome evening ended with our two musicians recommending some pubs for good traditional folk music and also selling a CD that they had recently contributed to (produced by someone who had done the sound track for Gangs of New York). My dad and I each picked one up, having been blown away by their performance.
So that I do not overwhelm you, gentle reader, with more words I will list out the other sites my dad and I have hit before and after this pub crawl:
Rock of Cashel - Very interesting visit to this ruin on our way to Kilkenny
Kilkenny - Neat little medieval town where we visited a nice Victorian castle.
Guinness Warehouse - Very cool...learned how to pour the perfect pint and enjoyed at the Gravity Bar, a place with a 360, panoramic view of Dublin
Kilmainham Gaol - Historic jail, known for as the place of execution for the leaders of the 1916 uprising. Very moving exhibit.
Hop on, hop off Grey-line bus - Nice way to see and learn about the Dublin, especially in the rain.
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