MUSIC!

All week, Brianna had been talking about a traditional music pub crawl happening on Friday. Irish music? I'm in! says I, having been vaguely trying to find some ever since I got here. Anyone else want to come? Anyone...? Strangely enough, no one else was interested. It ended up being just Brianna, Peter, Kenzie and me. And GOD did everyone else MISS OUT.

It was FANTASTIC. I cannot use enough capital letters to tell you how amazing it was. There were just two musicians, Eugene (banjo) and Antony (guitar, bohdran, voice), two pubs, and about three hours of music, talk and alcohol. Could it be better? I think not. The dynamic between the two was hilarious; Antony was a showman, cracking jokes, and Eugene would be all quiet until he'd suddenly bust out with something hilarious. Or they'd both go on about history of music, of instruments--all of it fascinating. When playing Eugene would close his eyes and go all meditative while his fingers went crazy on the strings, while at the same time Antony's next to him, essentially rocking out on whatever instrument he was on. They played reels and jigs and hornpipes and other tunes, and taught us how to sing Johnny Jump Up, and generally had a great time. So did we. (Kenzie developed an enourmous crush on Eugene. I thought Antony looked a little like a pirate. Or possibly Sim.)

At one point Eugene was talking about his musical background, and how when he switched from guitar to banjo at 16 he needed to find a new idol (as Jimi Hendrix did not play the banjo). He found one in Bela Fleck (our whole table went "Yeeeah!"); and he then proceeded to play a bluegrass reel that he'd stolen off Bela Fleck when he'd come to Dublin in concert. And it was incredible.

My feet were tapping the whole time, completely inadvertently, I wouldn't have known how to stop them. I want to dance again, relearn all my steps. Especially hardshoe, I like making noise. I wonder if Eugene and Antony want someone to dance. I wonder if they could tell me where ceilis are held.

This is a video I nabbed right at the end; it's a low-light, hard-to-see-anything, I've-had-better-sound-quality-from-ducks kind of video, but it's two and a half minutes of AWESOME. Seriously. Just watch it.