10/01 Clannad at The Fitzgerald Theater
Clannad Setlist
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One of their final bows- long-awaited in St. Paul, and fifty-three years in the making,
Legendary Irish band Clannad (from the word clan meaning ‘family’ in Gaelic) made a much-anticipated stop in downtown St. Paul for one of the last dates of their In A Lifetime- Farewell Tour at the Fitzgerald Theater, close to wrapping a final tour that began back in Belfast in 2020.
The family musical collective from County Donegal was initially formed in 1970 by siblings Moya, Ciarán, and Pól Brennan and their twin uncles Pádraig and Noel Duggan (who sadly both passed away respectively in 2016 and 2022), and for a short time, became a six-piece with the addition of Enya (Brennan) who went on to have her own highly successful solo career.
Over the last five decades while amassing over 15million in album sales, the band has made music that merges the traditional and the modern, both in themes and lyrics as well as their use of instruments; but at their core, they remain essentially the same familial band playing and harmonizing together, as when they first began.
Their latest release is 2020’s career-spanning anthology In a Lifetime (named after their 1985 worldwide hit with Bono and a digital Immersive Version was released in 2022) and features two new songs produced by the equally legendary Trevor Horn.
St. Paul, as you might expect, has a large Irish-originating population and the band hasn’t toured the States much in general, having not come to the area for decades, so much excitement surrounded, and the concert was also presented by the Celtic Junction Arts Center.
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The first of their two sets leaned more on the traditional and earliest songs of their career, with the Brennan siblings first appearing on stage as a trio, soon to be joined by drummer Ged Lynch and Moya’s two children, Aisling and Paul Jarvis (who have their own solo careers and a band project called Banyah), in keeping with the family initiative.
1985’s “Buachaill Ón Éirne” (Boy from Ireland) from their international breakout album, Macalla, introduced the set, expressing (in Gaelic) that it’s better to be loved, than not at all, and 1976’s “dTigeas a Damhsa” is a children’s song that invites all to dance.
Pól Brennan, the most animated of the main three on stage, introduced “Thíos Chois Na Trá Domh” from their first album in 1973, as the first Gaelic song they sang on stage, a ballad that translates to Down by the Seaside. “Eleanor Plunkett / Fairly Shot of Her” began as mostly instrumental, about whiskey and women, and 1980’s “Crann Úll” (The Apple Tree) was described as a work song of the farmer, encouraging that when one moves, all move, in order for presumably more efficient harvesting.
1976’s “Éirigh Is Cuir Ort Do Chuid Éadaigh” translates as roughly, Get Up and Put on Your Clothes, and is actually a song about forbidden love and the pair dashing away to elope, and Moya (who also played harp for most of the show) taught the audience the chorus of the nine-verse, “Two Sisters”. Instruments and sound structures turned more modern with 1983’s “Newgrange” from their Magical Ring album, as electronic keyboards help create visions of mist, cliffs, green hills, and ancient stone.
From the same album, “Thíos Fán Chósta” spoke of conserving Earth’s resources, a theme as or more valid today, and the set would end with a massive Robin Hood medley, culled from their 1984 soundtrack of ITV’s popular Robin of Sherwood series, and a score that would win the group a UK BAFTA Award.
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After a brief intermission, the second set began with the ethereal “Caislean Óir” (The Golden Castle) and “In a Lifetime”, both from the landmark Macalla album, with daughter Aisling Jarvis filling in ably, with a gentler but fitting vocal in Bono’s place. Moya would describe the track as having been helped “by a young fella from Dublin- he couldn’t be here tonight because he’s very busy in Las Vegas”, which had the audience laughing.
From their last full album, 2013’s “Rhapsody na gCrann” again found nature as a subject and translates to Rhapsody of the Trees and Pól spoke of universal tolerance to all, being the inspiration for “Hourglass”. A return to the traditional again, on 1982’s “Mhorag's na horo Gheallaidh”, a milling song about a working girl and cloth-making from jute plants, followed by the newest- one of the two new tracks recorded with Trevor Horn.
Rubberband-ing back five decades, it was again to their first album for “Níl Sé'n Lá” another Irish drinking song about staying in the pub (It’s Not Yet Daytime) and the crowd applauded louder following an epic, stirring “I Will Find You” from The Last of the Mohicans film soundtrack.
The band dedicated “Closer to the Heart” to the audience itself, thanking them for the years of loyalty, with upright bassist Ciarán joking that “a lot of Guinness was flyin” when he wrote the upbeat song. The crowd was at an absolute hush for “Theme from Harry’s Game” from a TV series about ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland in the early 80’s, and a selection that U2 ended every concert with, over the loudspeakers from 1983-1987.
The set would end with 1976’s “Dúlamán”, an early hit from the band about “everything seaweed” related and was expanded and extended with room for additional bass and drum mini solos, to finish with flair.
Though two songs were on the printed setlist, the band wisely decided to eschew the ballad and end the evening with the traditional “Teidhir Abhaile Riú “, recorded on their second album. This was an energetic matchmaking song that translates roughly as You Can Go Home Tonight, which also had the audience clapping and dancing along to Pól on tin whistle and the swirling rhythms.
And with that and to a roar of sustained and standing applause, Clannad took their final-ever group bow in the Midwest, with only a few West Coast shows left on their last tour itinerary before they completely finish next week.
Fifty-three years as a band has been In a Lifetime, and the chance to see Clannad before they fully retire, is a fortunate and ‘can’t miss’ experience for anyone near any of the remaining venues.
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CLANNAD at The Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul MN (2023-10-01) |
| john ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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