The High Kings Rock!

The High Kings rock. Traditionally. That is, they rock trad music. They play great old pub songs and classic tunes so that they appeal to those with only the most glancing interest in trad--yet their arrangements are so straightforward and muscular that trad music fans can love them too.

They're really unique on the Irish music scene--the closest to them might be the all-girl group Screaming Orphans (I wrote about them here on May 21st), who also play beloved bar songs with a rocker energy.

You could see the range of their appeal by the diverse crowd attending the final show of their brief August tour (in support of the new album, Memory Lane) at Connolly's in New York on Thursday, August 19th.

Crowding the front of the room near the stage were young girls, shrieking at the lads onstage. In the middle of the room were trad musicians and friends--including singer Aoife Clancy, whose brother Finbarr plays guitar with the band, and comedienne Fiona Walsh, a regular on Sundays at Seven at the Irish Arts Center.

Towards the back of the room and at chairs at the bar were older fans of this music, who knew all the words not only to "Black Velvet Band" and "Fields of Athenry" but also to "On Raglan Road", with lyrics by the poet Patrick Kavanagh, first recorded by the Dubliners.

You can see why they'd make an appropriate opening act for Celtic Woman (they have toured with them, and are produced also by David Downes), but the boys come from a trad and rock background, less theatre and classical, than the Women. On their website, they declare that they are following in the tradition of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.

The thing is, they actually are.

What the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem did so beautifully back in the day was resurrect Irish songs and make them popular. Their arrangements sound a little dated now (though wonderful in their own right).

The High Kings take these songs and infuse them with 21st century energy and drive. It's a delight to hear them--and it fills a real gap. It's actually not all that easy to find a great, upbeat version of a standard like "Whiskey in the Jar" that is not either old-fashioned or punk. The High Kings throw energy at the music but not too much attitude, so that the songs come out "straight." They welcome in everyone who likes the song.

Martin Furey, of the Fureys, plays guitar, banjo, and whistles with the band. Brian Dunphy has starred in Riverdance and performed as one of the Three Irish Tenors. He plays bodhran. Darren Holden played The Piano Man on Broadway in Movin' Out (Twyla Tharp choreography to the music of Billy Joel), starred in Riverdance, and was part of Boyzone. He plays accordion with the band.

All of them sing, often in four-part harmony.

You may have noticed there's no fiddle. It's a guitar-based band, percussion supplied by heels tapping on wood and by bodhran. Those multiple guitars supply a real rock energy.

They played 22 songs at Connollys, taking an intermission, then played three more as an encore. They opened with the high energy "Step It Out Mary," and went into "Marie's Wedding," getting everyone singing along. Really impressive though was the purity they brought to the acapella rendering of "My Cavan Girl": with the four part harmony you could really hear the clarity of each fine voice. "Black Velvet Band" and "Rocky Road to Dublin" brought the energy up again, and there were patriotic numbers too, naturally, including "The Rising of the Moon," which closed the first set.

The second half of the show was a little more pensive in tone, though it opened with a lively "Finnegan's Wake." The anti-war song by Eric Bogle "The Green Fields of France" (also known as "No Man's Land") is a tear-jerker, and their harmonies and simplicity kept it all the more moving (it works less well, in my opinion, when it's "milked," here it wasn't.

I haven't heard as nice a rendition of "The Leaving of Liverpool" since the grand finale of the "Absolutely Irish" filming at Irish Arts Center in 2007 (singers included Karan Casey, Susan McKeown, Mick Moloney), and following it with "Will You Go Lassie Go" worked beautifully.

I was delighted they included "The Parting Glass" as their final encore - it was a favorite of the late Liam Clancy (Finbarr's uncle). I've been nagging Screaming Orphans to learn it for years. The song, which is also in the film Waking Ned Devine, is on the High Kings debut album. It sounded just perfect, in that pub setting, with those voices crooning - somehow they made it both brand new and traditional. It's what they do so well.