Crotty-Doran Branch Grupai Cheoil Plays Spectacularly at Noisy Overseas Concert
Terence McKinney

Our Branch Grupai Cheoil played to a packed and extremely enthusiastic audience at the lovely Riverside Hotel in Enniscorthy on Saturday night for the "Overseas Concert". Even the river Slaney was smelling sweet compared to last year.

The kids were preceded by a couple from England on fiddle and box and were followed by an animated performance by fiddler Matt Mancuso and Annmarie Acosta (1998 Senior All-Ireland Piano) both from New York.That was followed byanother great performance by John Whelan on button box with guitar accompaniment.

The Group was given a warm introduction by Helen Gannon from St. Louis and proceeded to play with great gusto. Many people even asked if the kids had cut a CD. Those in the front 1/3 of the hall who could hear the music were thrilled.

Where are the leaders?
Things off to a slow start with seemingly endless speeches from some 14 dignitaries, local politicians and sponsors. Once the music finally got rolling it was great.

There is a time and place for everything and if I was a cynic I would say the music was merely there to provide a reason to get an audience for the speakers. But what's a few hours delay?

Having said all that, one would have expected a more respectful audience with all of the elite in attendance but apparently it made no damn difference at all.

The bar inside the concert area remained open throughout all of the performances and the noise at the back 1/2 of the hall was at times absolutely unbearable from the noise around the bar.

Where were the leaders at that point? Couldn't CCÉ have found just one more Waterford decanter in it's stash to present to the Hotel to shut down the bar for 2 hours?

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