We'll be listening to a lot of Irish music while in Ireland. I'm a huge fan of Irish music, both traditional and modern. A few years ago I produced a public radio documentary called "Shamrock 'n Roll," which explored the use of traditional Irish instrumentation in modern genres of music, like rock, new age, and techno. My favorite mash-up is the traditional/punk mix. There are a great many excellent Irish punk bands on the scene today, stemming from the success of the legendary group The Pogues (who recently began a reunion tour, indicating that the orthodontic- and sobriety-challenged Shane MacGowan may finally have cleaned up his act).
Boston's Dropkick Murphys and Chicago's The Tossers are two of the more well-known Irish punk outfits, and both are excellent, but for my money the best Irish band working today is Flogging Molly. I'm a longtime friend and fan - I was at their first-ever live show, and I used to see them play every Monday night at Molly Malone's in L.A., the pub from which they took their name. They were then and remain today the loudest band I've ever heard. I once heard a ringing in my ears for three days after seeing one of their shows (an investment in earplugs for subsequent shows followed). Molly Malone's was about the size of a shoebox, and the cover charge was three dollars, and I used to hang with the band after their shows. Now I see them in giant theaters, it costs me thirty smackers, and I have to make a half-dozen phone calls to wrangle a backstage pass. I'm happy the band has been discovered, but ah, the price of success for the fan...
If you don't know their music, I suggest you check them out (start with the album "Swagger"). Here's a video I shot of them at Chicago's Irishfest. The audio distortion is less a problem with my camera than a reflection of just how mindbendingly loud they play. Enjoy.
And here are two of their videos:
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