Celtic Fest
This weekend was the Dayton Celtic Festival. Despite our weather woes (rain and high humidity), I think that it turned out to be a rousing success. I love that it is a free festival, and yet it has so much to offer for families and kids as well as entertainment and vendors. I caught two bands this year, as well as the youth group show from the Celtic Academy.
I went down on Friday night and caught the Gaelic Storm show. They were great, as usual. I really enjoyed their new fiddler--Jessie (Jessy?) Burns, who replaced Ellery Klein as she had a baby a couple of weeks ago. Jessie has a lot of energy and stage presence. She is a very talented fiddler and complements the rest of the band really well. I caught part of their early show on Saturday before I had to meet with the rest of my dance school before our performance, and I saw their final show of the evening as well. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the festival today due to some sort of back injury, but I'll definitely see them again this coming weekend at the Dublin Irish Festival in Dublin, OH.
Saturday evening, I saw the Jimmy Kelly Band perform both at the festival and at the after party at Canal Street Tavern. They are newcomers to the festival this year, and I'm glad they were able to make it. I'm not sure of all the members of the band, but I can say that their drummer is mind-blowing. He apparently toured with Ted Nugent for a while, and is the drummer on Billy Idol's "White Wedding" album, among other things. During the band's performance Saturday afternoon, he played the drums with flaming sticks. The visuals were excellent. I just wish I had been closer to the stage so that I could have taken a good picture. They put on a great show, both during the festival and afterward.
I had a great time this year, although I think I drank too many Blacksmiths (Smithwicks Ale with Guinness layered on top) ;)
I went down on Friday night and caught the Gaelic Storm show. They were great, as usual. I really enjoyed their new fiddler--Jessie (Jessy?) Burns, who replaced Ellery Klein as she had a baby a couple of weeks ago. Jessie has a lot of energy and stage presence. She is a very talented fiddler and complements the rest of the band really well. I caught part of their early show on Saturday before I had to meet with the rest of my dance school before our performance, and I saw their final show of the evening as well. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the festival today due to some sort of back injury, but I'll definitely see them again this coming weekend at the Dublin Irish Festival in Dublin, OH.
Saturday evening, I saw the Jimmy Kelly Band perform both at the festival and at the after party at Canal Street Tavern. They are newcomers to the festival this year, and I'm glad they were able to make it. I'm not sure of all the members of the band, but I can say that their drummer is mind-blowing. He apparently toured with Ted Nugent for a while, and is the drummer on Billy Idol's "White Wedding" album, among other things. During the band's performance Saturday afternoon, he played the drums with flaming sticks. The visuals were excellent. I just wish I had been closer to the stage so that I could have taken a good picture. They put on a great show, both during the festival and afterward.
I had a great time this year, although I think I drank too many Blacksmiths (Smithwicks Ale with Guinness layered on top) ;)