Photograph from the Saw Doctors WebsiteThose rogues from Tuam are afoot again, this time showing up in, of all places, the Opera House in Lebanon, New Hampshire. The band was in a festive mood, particular Leo Moran, who spoke to the audience more frequently and intimately than I'd seen before. Perhaps his joviality was owed to his mastery of the huge white Gretsch guitar--last summer in Cohasset it seemed to be playing him, but this time he'd shown it who was boss.
"Do you like it?" he asked the crowd. "It's kind of big. I realize I look puny behind it."
The full house was largely composed of long-time fans. They listened from their seats to the first two songs, but upon hearing the opening chords of N-17, about one third of the patrons rushed to the orchestra pit, where they would dance and sing and chant responses for the rest of the evening.
This incarnation of the band was a little heavier than I'd seen before; even Clare Island and Share the Darkness were introduced with arresting chords from Leo's white behemoth. There seemed to be attempts to focus on individual members using spotlights, especially for Davy's Carton's more powerful vocals and Anthony Thistlewaite's sax solo. During the spoken portion of Galway and Mayo, Leo worked in a bit about Anthony's playing in Ireland's largest stadium when he was with The Waterboys.
Everyone went home happy. Reggae lovers got I'll Be On My Way, zydeco lovers got The Joyce County Ceili Band, and we all got five songs for an encore, including Useta Lover and Hay Wrap (the embedded song in Hay Wrap was Honky Tonk Woman, with Anthony on vocals). Leo told the residents of Lebanon that their town reminded him of the town in Back to the Future.
Another Tuam group, the Stonelakes Band, opened with a 30 minute set of excellent songs. They'll be heard from, I'm sure.
We'd had bangers and mash and Irish country pie across the road at the Salt Hill Pub, and we wore our official Galway maroon and white football jerseys. Life is good.
"Do you like it?" he asked the crowd. "It's kind of big. I realize I look puny behind it."
The full house was largely composed of long-time fans. They listened from their seats to the first two songs, but upon hearing the opening chords of N-17, about one third of the patrons rushed to the orchestra pit, where they would dance and sing and chant responses for the rest of the evening.
This incarnation of the band was a little heavier than I'd seen before; even Clare Island and Share the Darkness were introduced with arresting chords from Leo's white behemoth. There seemed to be attempts to focus on individual members using spotlights, especially for Davy's Carton's more powerful vocals and Anthony Thistlewaite's sax solo. During the spoken portion of Galway and Mayo, Leo worked in a bit about Anthony's playing in Ireland's largest stadium when he was with The Waterboys.
Everyone went home happy. Reggae lovers got I'll Be On My Way, zydeco lovers got The Joyce County Ceili Band, and we all got five songs for an encore, including Useta Lover and Hay Wrap (the embedded song in Hay Wrap was Honky Tonk Woman, with Anthony on vocals). Leo told the residents of Lebanon that their town reminded him of the town in Back to the Future.
Another Tuam group, the Stonelakes Band, opened with a 30 minute set of excellent songs. They'll be heard from, I'm sure.
We'd had bangers and mash and Irish country pie across the road at the Salt Hill Pub, and we wore our official Galway maroon and white football jerseys. Life is good.
