On the 22nd of June, I had all exams behind me and the concert I was so looking forward to finally took place. In the evening of that day, I and my friends went to see the Conamara Chaos perform at Balbín's Poetic Pub. The main reason behind my rather big interest to attend the event in the first place was not only the interview we have done with Radvan Markus in May (read here), but also the countless appraisals of his flute-playing that I heard from his Irish language students... And I was not disappointed.
We arrived at the "poetic pub" before 20h, which was when the concert was to start. Having bought the tickets the previous day (oh, how organised am I!), my friend Lydia already got a small laughing fit after we entered the place when saying: "At the entrance, how you just waved those tickets in Balbín [the owner of the pub]'s face! Like a boss!" So we bought ourselves beers and sat at the head of the long table that almost reached the stage. Even though I didn't see a single face of anyone from our university, I was still pleasantly surprised to see the room full of people. Everyone was enthusiastically clapping to the musicians' tunes, drinking down pints of beer and simply having a good time - just like me and my company.
We arrived at the "poetic pub" before 20h, which was when the concert was to start. Having bought the tickets the previous day (oh, how organised am I!), my friend Lydia already got a small laughing fit after we entered the place when saying: "At the entrance, how you just waved those tickets in Balbín [the owner of the pub]'s face! Like a boss!" So we bought ourselves beers and sat at the head of the long table that almost reached the stage. Even though I didn't see a single face of anyone from our university, I was still pleasantly surprised to see the room full of people. Everyone was enthusiastically clapping to the musicians' tunes, drinking down pints of beer and simply having a good time - just like me and my company.
Each song had a short prologue, done by Radvan Markus, as to inform the audience of the nature or story behind the next musical piece.
Some of the songs were solely instrumental, but there were also quite a few ballads and merry songs in Irish or English, all of which were performed by Sinéad Murray.
The back of the pub (basically the area with the bar) was occupied by an enthusiastic bunch of young English-speaking people. During the break, they turned out to be Sinéad's fan-club that most probably flew over from Ireland - so you can imagine,
there was quite a bit of excess cheering and clapping at the end of most
of her performances. Though sometimes obnoxiously loud, they did contribute to the positive atmosphere present in the room... Also, it was quite heart-warming to hear them repeatedly praise our beer: "No wonder all these Czechs get drunk on beer all the time - it's the best!" and so in a short-lived intense moment of nationalistic ecstasy, I finished my pint.
By the door was a young man in an orange shirt, half-baggy half-tight
dark pants and with glasses and long straight hair, who fascinated and
entertained not only me and Lydia, but also the rest of the nearby
listeners. Simple reason: the lad was dancing all the time -
jumping up and down (making the Irish songs suddenly seem perfect for
DDR), moving his feet forward and back in a tap-dancing fashion, his arms swinging around his body, mirroring each other. He was so active and joyous, not only did he make me somehow think of a leprechaun (minus the beard and hat), but also made me laugh, especially when Lydia whispered (well, shouted, given the loud acoustics) into my ear: "Can you imagine how tight his ass must be?" He was obviously in a world of his own, yet every once in a while he left the room into the next one, shutting the glass doors behind him - and there he danced some more (sometimes with a partner), clearly enjoying the greater amount of space. Soon enough, he returned back to the main room and skipped and swung his arms some more there.
Hence to conclude, I believe it is a pity that a lot of people missed the event as it was one of those concerts that make one feel both relaxed and positive afterwards. I and my company agreed that the highlight, the "soul" of the event was doubtlessly Radvan Markus and his marvellous flute-playing. Truly! We were astounded by his lightness of performance and his evident enthusiasm for both Irish culture (the stories and history behind the songs) and music (the pieces themselves). As for the singer, Lydia (a musician herself) emphasised the fact that Sinéad sang often off-key, but nonetheless - we all agreed - she had a very friendly and pleasant stage presence. The evening was a wonderful one and if the future holds another Conamara Chaos concert, then I will most definitely be there - and I hope other people from our university will, too.
