Black 47
It wasn’t the most glamorous of gigs for New York City’s Black
47, who played two sets in the beer garden pavilion at the Saratoga
County Fair on Saturday night, scheduled between an auction of chainsaw carvings
and Rosaire’s troupe of racing pigs. (Those pokey “racing” pigs are no
thoroughbreds, that’s for sure.)
A Hulk Hogan impersonator in red tights wandered in as the Celtic rock group
-led by their ever-amiable frontman Larry Kirwan, sporting
green suede shoes – tried gamely to entertain the smallish crowd who entered the
beer garden area to drink Killian’s Red at picnic tables sheltered from the
night’s intermittent downpours.
It was the third area appearance this year for Kirwan, whose band played a
more rollicking show (better sound, more fans) at the late, much-lamented
Revolution Hall in Troy back in March shortly after St. Patrick’s Day, followed
by Kirwan’s solo “Rock & Read” performance at Schenectady’s Van Dyck in
April, where he read from his latest novel, “Rockin’ the Bronx,” about an Irish
punk musician’s struggle to navigate New York City in the ’80s.
An author and fairly prolific playwright, the Irish-American
guitarist/vocalist brings a literary bent to his music as well. Tunes like
“Fanatic Heart,” a plaintive number about violence-ridden July 12th parades in
Northern Ireland, and “Sadr City,” which Kirwan dedicated to troops in Iraq,
demonstrated his knack for spinning third-person narratives in song.
Black 47 honed their chops over 20 years on the New York pub scene, and band
members Thomas Hamlin (drums), Joe Burcaw
(bass), Geoffrey Blythe (saxophone), Fred
Parcells (trombone, pennywhistle) and Joseph
Mulvanerty (Uilleann pipes, flute) gave Kirwan solid backing. You have
to feel for Mulvanerty, whose Irish Uilleann pipes always look uncomfortable to
play. (Just handling the bellowed instrument looks cumbersome enough; there’s
definitely no room for looking cool while playing it.)
The big-barn acoustics, occasional blasts from a nearby truck-pull
competition, and relatively reserved crowd (only a few souls were brave enough
to kick up their heels on the dance floor in front of the stage) may have put a
damper on the mood, but the band hit its stride on the jaunty “Celtic Rocker,”
the Irish-reggae lilt of “Desperate” and the lovely “Summer Dress” from the
band’s latest album, “Bankers and Gangsters.”
Review and photograph by Kirsten Ferguson
BLACK 47 SET LIST (partial)
Fire of Freedom
Sadr City
Maria’s
Wedding
Celtic Rocker
Three Little Birds (Bob
Marley)
Desperate
Summer Dress
Frantic Heart
James Connelly
I Got
Laid on James Joyce’s Grave
Funky Ceili
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Kirsten
Ferguson, Saratoga County Fair