An Irish Evening: Live At The Grand Opera House, Belfast
$3.50
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During the early ’90s, the Chieftains embarked upon a series of multigenre crossover recordings. Major pop stars were brought in as guest artists and a few had the goods, but others came across as wannabes or well-meaning if clueless PR victims. This Grammy-winning live album from 1992 features the Who’s Roger Daltrey and American singer Nanci Griffith. Sadly, Griffith’s husky, thin-textured voice is inadequate to the demands of Irish vocal ornamentation and phrasing. Daltre… More >>
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An Irish Evening: Live At The Grand Opera House, Belfast
In later albums, the Chieftains have been trying to go the Santana route by adding ‘guest vocalists’, and too often, the effects are jarring.
Case in point, Mr. Roger Daltrey; his rendering of “Raglan Road” (an overdone song in any event) is abysmal. If I were in attendance, I would have gone for a hot dog at that point. They follow up with a rendition of “Behind Blue Eyes” that might have worked as an instrumental, but it also falls flat.
That being said, the rest of the album isn’t too bad; the band is in fine form, and the song selection is a good mishmash of the well-known and the obscure. The recording also sounds great, as “An Irish Evening” was one of the first digital CD recordings of the early 90s.
Rating: 3 / 5
I ordered this CD for my husband and it was recieved in a timely fashion in the state that was intended.
Rating: 5 / 5
But I will not add my voice to those saying “Roger go home” the songs were great and the Chieftains were and are still the best Celtic group ever. I just had no idea this album was that old (1992)
Case in point last march I got dragged along with some friends to see “Celtic Women” whom I had never heard of and now that I think about I wish I had just stayed home and listen to this album.
The Chieftains understand something that a lot of the newer Gallic/Celtic/Neopagen bands don’t live performances are about pleasing the crowd not getting on stage and showing off. Say what you will about the Chieftains but all of their songs are a treat.
Rating: 5 / 5
Representative of the fine mix of traditional Irish music the Chieftains perform, this concert gives the fan of the Chieftains a nice sampling of what they’re good at with the occasional error in judgement that accompanies a live performance.
Highlights include a fine opening medley that gives the band a chance to show how well they play together , Matt Malloy’s outstanding flute solo on “The Mason’s Apron,” that still stuns me every time I listen to it, and a closing medley that allows each member to shine.
But the guest stars don’t really work for me, Nanci Griffith doesn’t do a bad job but adds nothing special to the concert and Roger Daltrey sounds out of his element on “Raglan Road,” and while “Behind Blue Eyes” is interesting as worked through the Chieftains sound it just doesn’t fit here. I am sure “The Stone” (A special Dance when two lovers meet) is fine when you can see it, it loses a bit on CD. But these are not major problems and the sound is solid for a concert performance. For this fan, it’s a pretty good time.
Rating: 4 / 5
This CD is a recording of the Chieftains playing live in Belfast. As a result, there is some distracting background noise and in my opinion the clapping and cheering detracts from the overall effect of the CD.
This aside, the CD contains an excellent compilation of vocal ballads and lovely instrumentals. Kevin Conneff does a lovely a cappella rendering of “North Americay.” Other standouts include the rollicking “Lilly Bolero/The White Cockade,” and the mournful “The Stone.”
Nanci Griffiths and Roger Daltrey appear as guests of the Chieftains in several of the tunes on the CD. I enjoyed Nanci Griffiths “Little Love Affairs,” and “Red is the Rose.” However, I cannot say the same for Roger Daltrey. I skip over his “Raglan Road” and “Behind Blue Eyes,” every time I play the CD. I feel that his songs don’t fit into the style of the CD, and frankly, I dislike his voice.
Overall, I listen to this CD for its lovely Chieftains pieces, and try to block out its failings.
Rating: 3 / 5