Whelans has hit the milestone of 20 years and is celebrating with a series of gigs in the coming months starting tonight with the first of Mundy's three gigs. I predict Friday night will be mad in Whelans with Mundy downstairs and Groom in the upstairs venue. There's no doubt that Whelans is a special little venue that has accomondated many of Ireland's best artists as well as some of the very best International acts. The list includes Jeff Buckley, Townes Van Zandt, The Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, The National, David Gray and hundreds more. Here are my own personal highlights;
Katell Keineg:
Seen some excellent gigs in Whelans over the years. My most poignant moment was watching Katell Keineg from the balcony dedicating her new single ‘One Hell of a Life’ to her friend Jeff Buckley who died a few weeks before. The crowd sang the song so beautifully. Perfect moment.
Katell Keineg - Beautiful Day
Mark Dignam:
We seen Mark possibly four times in Whelans with the most recent time being this February. Mark's performances were always special as he is such a great songwriter. We seen Mark around 2003 with an up and coming singer-songwriter in support by the name of Declan O'Rourke!
Nick Kelly:
Like with Mark, we seen Nick many times in Whelans and most of the time the support slot was handed to the wonderful and mesmerising young singer Gemma Hayes. Along with his great music, Nick is a great story teller mid-song and invariably has the crowd in stitches.
Dar Williams: [X2, once with Mic Christopher, once with Jeffrey Foucault]
American folkster Dar has some excellent tunes in her back catalogue and as a performer she is amazing. Was a real treat to see Mic Christopher showcase some new tunes as a recent solo artist. I remember thinking that 'Heyday' was a special tune!
Other notable artists at Whelans include; Foy Vance, Joseph Arthur, Ben Kweller, The Frank & Walters, Josh Ritter, Tim Rogers, Los Campesinos, Nell Bryden and most recently One Day International.
The best of Whelans on YouTube
Gemma Hayes
Ray Heffernan - Let Go Of The Wheel [Recorded last month]
Ham Sandwich
Mark Geary
Luka Bloom
To read many many reviews of gigs in the las few years you should check out; http://www.cluas.com/venues/whelans-dublin/
..... and go here to check out some live legal bootlegs; http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=whelans%20AND%20collection%3Aetree
Remember Mundy for the next three nights to kick off the celebrations!
Mundy - To You I Bestow
Here's to many more years.... http://www.whelanslive.com/listings/
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