I finally went to see The Chieftains for the first time on Wednesday, in Glasgow. I have been waiting about 15 years to do so as I have been a fan since I was very young. I had written to their tour promoter to ask to meet the band but did not receive a reply. It was a fantastic concert, just before their usual finale of solos, Paddy announced he received a lovely letter from me, and that if I had any instruments I was to join them for an encore!! Turned out that he had phoned my house to ask me to bring an instrument with me, but it was 30 minutes before the concert was to start, I had already arrived. I had also switched my mobile phone off and my family were desperatly trying to contact me, I ended up missing the call by minutes which was to tell me to go and see them at the interval. But I went backstage afterwards and met all of them. I realise that many bands would ignore letters from fans so I was very honourned that he had tried to contact me personally. They were of course in a big rush after the show so it was a very brief meeting. But all four of them were complete gentlemen and very enthusiastic when I met them. I just had time to get one photo of myself and Paddy and as they were leaving Paddy shouted "next time!", so I will look forward to joining them on stage when that time comes. They say you'll only be dissappointed when you meet your heroes but not in this case. It was so very nearly a perfect evening.
Yeah, I have to say that in the case of Irish music heroes, I've rarely been disappointed when I've met them, as long as the situation has been one that's conducive to meeting people anyway.
That's a great story, Iain.
Gee, I'm out of touch, though, only four Chieftans - how long has this been going on? They used to fill a minibus.
Well the loss of Derek Bell in 2002 made it down to just Paddy, Kevin, Matt and Seán. There was a poignant moment when Paddy played "Women of Ireland" and dedicated it to him. I remember hearing Martin semi-retired in 2001, limiting himself to performances in Ireland, but don't know for sure, he was a founder member though.
The Chieftains
The Chieftains
I finally went to see The Chieftains for the first time on Wednesday, in Glasgow. I have been waiting about 15 years to do so as I have been a fan since I was very young. I had written to their tour promoter to ask to meet the band but did not receive a reply. It was a fantastic concert, just before their usual finale of solos, Paddy announced he received a lovely letter from me, and that if I had any instruments I was to join them for an encore!! Turned out that he had phoned my house to ask me to bring an instrument with me, but it was 30 minutes before the concert was to start, I had already arrived. I had also switched my mobile phone off and my family were desperatly trying to contact me, I ended up missing the call by minutes which was to tell me to go and see them at the interval. But I went backstage afterwards and met all of them. I realise that many bands would ignore letters from fans so I was very honourned that he had tried to contact me personally. They were of course in a big rush after the show so it was a very brief meeting. But all four of them were complete gentlemen and very enthusiastic when I met them. I just had time to get one photo of myself and Paddy and as they were leaving Paddy shouted "next time!", so I will look forward to joining them on stage when that time comes. They say you'll only be dissappointed when you meet your heroes but not in this case. It was so very nearly a perfect evening.
# Posted on September 19th 2004 by iainsm
Re: The Chieftains
Yeah, I have to say that in the case of Irish music heroes, I've rarely been disappointed when I've met them, as long as the situation has been one that's conducive to meeting people anyway.
That's a great story, Iain.
Gee, I'm out of touch, though, only four Chieftans - how long has this been going on? They used to fill a minibus.
# Posted on September 19th 2004 by kris
Re: The Chieftains
Well the loss of Derek Bell in 2002 made it down to just Paddy, Kevin, Matt and Seán. There was a poignant moment when Paddy played "Women of Ireland" and dedicated it to him. I remember hearing Martin semi-retired in 2001, limiting himself to performances in Ireland, but don't know for sure, he was a founder member though.
# Posted on September 19th 2004 by iainsm
Re: The Chieftains
What a lovely story, iansm. I like to think that when so much grace moves through you as music, some of it has to rub off.
# Posted on September 22nd 2004 by rainog