Dropkick Murphys Headline Newport’s Celtic Rock Fest

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Ken Abrams, GoLocalProv Music Critic

 

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Boston rock royalty Dropkick Murphys will return to RI this Saturday to headline the Newport Celtic Rock Festival.

Five popular Celtic bands will be “shipping up” to Newport this Saturday for the return of the Newport Celtic Rock Festival. Boston’s favorite sons, Dropkick Murphys will be headlining the show, an all-day event which gets under way at Noon at the Newport Yachting Center.

Celtica

The day starts with the explosive sounds of Celtica, a “Celtic-Metal” act which has to be heard to be believed. The band blends screaming guitars with screaming bagpipes on classics such as “Smoke on the Water” and “Highway to Hell.” They’re an international band, featuring bagpipers Jane Espie and Duncan Knight from Scotland, with other members hailing from Austria and Arizona.

Screaming Orphans

Returning to the Festival this year is another act from across the pond–the Screaming Orphans, from Donegal County, Ireland. They’re a true sister act, made up of the four Diver girls; Joan on drums, Angela on bass, Grainne on guitar, and Marie Therese on keyboards. Their influences range from traditional Irish music to alternative rock like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The talented ladies recently toured as back-up singers with Sinead O’Conner, and have played with everyone from Joni Mitchell to Peter Gabriel.

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The Town Pants

The Town Pants, from Vancouver, Canada are returning to the Festival for their fifth year. In an interview with GoLocalProv, Dave Keogh (guitar and banjo), explained the increasing popularity of Celtic/Irish rock. “Its honest music, its fun and its rowdy,” noted Keogh, who is joined by his brother Duane on guitar. They grew up around music, noted Keogh, and are influenced by “the Clancy Brothers, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and 80’s hair bands.” The Pants, purveyors of “West Coast Celtic,” played at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and are known to put on a great show. Let’s hope we hear GoLocal fave “Galway Girl.”

Eileen Ivers

Eileen Ivers, who the New York Times described as “the Jimi Hendrix of the Violin,” is an award winning fiddler who starred in Riverdance, the hugely popular Broadway show. On her recent release Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul, she blends her sound with other world music genres. The 9 time All-Ireland fiddle champion returns to Newport where she has dazzled the crowd in past years. Expect to be impressed!

Dropkick Murphys

The success of Dropkick Murphys is unparalleled in Celtic rock. Their association with the city of Boston is equally important. (They recently played the Boston Strong concert and have donated over $300,000 to victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.) They come to Newport on the heels of their new release, Rose Tattoo–For Boston, an EP featuring Bruce Springsteen on the title song, with all proceed going to the Claddagh Fund, the band’s charitable organization. They’re true New Englanders and great musicians, whose appeal spans genres and generations.  If you’ve never seen them live, this is one band not to be missed!

The Newport Celtic Rock Festival includes a full day of activities featuring “Pour your own Pint” of Guinness, Irish food and crafts, and a kids area where the younger lads and ladies can work on their Irish step dancing. Tickets are only $35, $45 day of show. Kids under 12 Free–no crowd surfing, kids! For more details and set times, click here. Look for a full review of the festival next week on GoLocalProv.

 

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