Report on the Máire Brennan concert in Los Angeles




Some additional notes from Gary who saw the Máire Brennan concert in LA. He said the band consisted of a keyboardist, guitarist, electric bass, an uileann piper and low whistle (Dennis Downes), a fiddler (Sinead Baden), a percussionist, Dee Brennan who played the bodhran and also some percussion, and of course Máire who also played the celtic harp. Gary describes the vocal blending between Máire, Dee, and Sinead as "delicious". "A really nice sound." Gary describes that Máire's band consists of young members with alot of energy.

Gary further describes, "The amount of energy is all the more amazing because Maire told us they had gotten into Los Angeles at 4 in the morning. The flight from Ireland to Chicago was fine, but the flight from Chicago had mechanical problems and they ended up in Denver... Maire did a surprising amount of the older Clannad stuff and about half of the songs from the 'Perfect Time' CD (title track, 'The Big Rock,' 'Heal the Earth,' and a couple others)."

"For the fashion conscious Maire wore a long wine colored coat with intricate embroidery and black slacks (I know it's not pertinent, but it looked nice). She made a small mention of the Grammy before her encore. She stated she was doing a 'gig' in Dublin and half the family was in L.A. and she got the call at 3 am in the morning."

"The biggest disappointment was the size of the crowd which I would guess at about 150 (the El Rey wasn't big, but the crowd size was pretty obvious). Maire joked (about) it about a few times. At the beginning of the concert she said she hadn't been here in awhile and 'you've forgotten me.' Later after some nicely played Irish music her sister turned to her and said 'they could dance.' Maire quipped, 'They've got the room.' When it came to the encore, Deidre and Maire were the first two back on stage. I love it when you can tell a performer loves to play. The people that did come were very enthusiastic and appreciative of an exceptional concert. I only saw 2 ads in the L.A. Weekly before the show and none in the Los Angeles Times. A little more publicity wouldn't have hurt."

However, Gary went on to describe that he was very pleased with the performance and really enjoyed the night as did the people that were there.

Thanks to Gary in L.A. for filling us in on the concert at the El Rey on February 27th. Anyone else have reactions to the shows? Please be free to send them to the Unofficial Clannad News Page and we'll include them on the page.

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Official Web Links:

Atlantic Records' Official Clannad Web Site

Word Records' Official Máire Brennan Web Site

Unofficial Clannad Web Site

Ed Plekkenpol's Clannad Pages

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