Saturday, November 11, 2017

Video documentary: The Dubliners -- Live in Germany, circa 1995.



Five Beards on the Road (2005; re-released in 2007 as On The Road - Live In Germany) -- originally filmed for release in Germany in 1995.

---

Between this discovery ...

THE BEER BEAT: A pint of bitter, please, because it's The Dubliners at the The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club, 1977.

... and this lamentable news item ...

R.I.P. Eamonn Campbell, Irish musical legend, 1946-2017.

... I've been cast into another Dubliners vortex, something that happens once a year like clockwork, and sometimes more often.

There were eleven primary members of The Dubliners over a period of 50 years (1962- 2012), with various other musicians plugging holes when necessary.

When this documentary was filmed circa 1994, three decades into their run, founding members Luke Kelly and Ciarán Bourke were long dead, though Sean Cannon and Eamonn Campbell were excellent players, too, and in my estimation, this period probably was the peak of the post-Kelly period.

The film itself is part travelogue, part concert. It's a German production and takes place almost entirely in Germany, testifying to the popularity of the band in northern Europe and Scandinavia. From the 1980s forward, while The Dubliners remained beloved in the group's native Ireland, tours of Europe were an annual ritual.

Ronnie Drew mentions this in the documentary, noting that The Dubliners were the first Irish "folk" band (not all of its members agree with the use of the term) to gain a following in places like Germany.

There are many good insights here, as well as songs both well known and obscure. If you are a fan of music in the universal sense, it's a good way to use two hours of your day.

No comments: