The Bothy Band was one of the first bands I discovered when I got interested in Irish music five decades ago. They are still one of my favorite when I want the pure stuff.
I'm amazed something didn't catch fire during this performance! The Bothy Band are the pinnacle, everyone who came after them basically wished they were them.
Certainly agree, that the Bothy Band was an amazing force of nature and yes- that is miraculous nothing was damaged during that set! Yet think it fair to say, they were _a pinnacle_ , but far the last one. There have been more since, more yet to be seen and knowing a couple of the remaining members believe they’d would say something similar. Surely, the Bothy Band will always be regarded as the one the greatest ensembles in traditional music. But it would be a disservice to the music to ignore how much great music had come out since, and would dismiss the enormous promise and extraordinary young talent that’s come to light in recent years.
@@daragildea7434 As a piper and presently building test-reproductions of the late Liam O'Flynn's chanter based on detailed measurements made in Ireland, Planxty was my clear favorite between the two. Planxty is completely unrivaled in their approach to presenting and developing the melodies with their combination of subtlety, thoughtfulness, expressiveness and emotion. Bothy were straight up power players. With Scots pipes as my first instrument, I appreciate the Bothy style and love to play along to recordings at times. Chieftains were perhaps the 3rd leg of the triangle of this unique era of Irish traditional music revival and perhaps even rebirth --actually the first historically. My wife playing bodhran and myself playing pipes had 2 hours to sit at each elbow of Paddy Keenan in a 1990's tour when he visited an Irish-American club in our region to do a brief concert and then open sessiun afterwards. That will be carved on each of our gravestones!
These guys are playing tunes that over 100 years old. Yes, they added new elements, but so did the Chieftains and Lunasa and Horselips. Irish music is still alive. In some ways it remains as it always was and some ways it's constantly renewing itself. It will live as long as it doesn't become static.
Remember mooching around Dublin with my sister pat walsh following all these musicians at one time she has a tune with most of them at one time or another great times we have followed the music obsessively
An awesome line-up playing one mighty tune.......Donal Lunny, Triona NiDomhnaill, Paddy Keenan, Kevin Burke, Matt Molloy and Micheal O'Domhnaill (now deceased). Great music!
Grew up listening to and learning from this lot, and loved them at the time. The only thing I'd say now is that the speed they played at got some people confused about the relationship between fast and lively. It's lively not because it's fast but because it's lively. And if they'd cranked it down to 110 BPM it would have sounded even livelier. But they turned so many people on, you have to forgive them. Trailblazers.
Get the live recording on CD, that knocks the socks off the sound here. It's great to see them playing on video (thankyou!), but you're in for a revelation if you think this is the best they sounded :-)
