St John's Block party review - Cloud Cult and Rince na Chroi Irish Dancing

Okay, enough of this tedious LDAP shite, I'm not getting anything done on that series anyway. So, here's something a bit more fun.

I just got home from the 2009 St John's Block Party and they had another really good line up this year. I donno who puts together the music for them, but I'm continually impressed.

While I didn't get to see one of my old favorites, Boiled in Lead, this year, two really fun acts were Rince na Chroi (pronounced Rink-a na Cree) and Cloud Cult.

Rince na Chroi had some good Irish music from two of the members of Two Tap Trio, played on guitar, penny whistle, and flute. About half the dances were performed in soft shoes, and half in tap. The apx 12-15 dancers were all students at the 170 student plus school, ranging from older teens to about 8 year olds. There were two younger boys, but the majority were girls.

Irish dance is fascinating because of the intricate and amazingly energetic footwork, yet the torso is nearly completely still. The dancers did some really neat and well choreographed and coordinated movements, too, joining and releasing hands and dancing around each other in patterns and figures.

I tried to grab a few short videos of some of the dances, and put them up on qik.com but fair warning -- the quality is crappy. (I'm really disappointed in the qik application for android, but I'll add that to the android / g1 phone review I'm writing)

The other group I spent a lot of time on was Cloud Cult. My end opinion: their status as one of the, if not the, current top rock band in the twin cities area is well deserved. I'm really glad I got to see them, because I wasn't able to stay for their gig last year at the block party, and they're stopping touring after this summer. (I'm guessing that might have to do with the band's lead singer and his wife, also in the band, expecting a child. Congrats to them!)

For those unfamiliar with them, well, start with this youtube video of one of my favorite songs of theirs. Here's another good one of them live last year. Also here's a few still photos of them from their show tonight.

Musically, they do several things I like - they range from quiet, nearly spiritual strings which creep up my spine in tingles to eardrum cracking jam sessions that I could literally feel the wind produced by the subwoofers from 150 feet and a intervening crowd between. Their lyrics are imaginative and poetic. Their choice of instruments combinations and musical styles is eclectic, but original and effective - combining brass, strings, glockenspiel, voice, synthesiser, and traditional rock driving bass, guitar, and drums. They occasionally drop back into a-cappella or minimal accompaniment with great harmonies.

Additionally, they did some neat stuff in their live show - most of the songs were cleanly segued one into the next with no pause, making it non-obvious where and when the one song ended and the next began. This isn't entirely unknown, but is still unusual. Of course, they had great energy. The other cool and unusual thing was that two of the band members who are artists set up large canvasses and painted during the show, only taking small breaks to come in and sing parts or play an instrument. The paintings are apparently auctioned at the end of each show.

My recommendation: go see one of the last live shows this summer (on their web site). Make a strong effort. It's definitely worth it. Also buy their music -- I've greatly enjoyed listening to their albums, and you likely will, too.

-- Pat