May has finished on a high. We got together last Wednesday, 25th May, in the Dirty Glass, to practise the Athens session set. To speed maters up we reduced the repetitions and flew through the set in no time. Then the madness began.
Seven of us committed ourselves to playing in the inaugural Athens Irish Festival organised by Thanos Papathanasiou. On Friday afternoon (27th) my wife and I plus Kathleen and Evridiki drove to Athens. We all missed the opening night as we had to meet friends and family. However, three of us were there for the second night, where the main acts were Noriana and Plump.
The remaining four players set off from Thessaloniki at around 11:30 am on Sunday (29th), driving straight to the venue. The “Session” was the first event of the evening. My wife, Kathleen and I drove back immediately after the gig, arriving back in Thessaloniki at 4:30 am on Monday morning. I thought I was in my 20s again until I realised my recovery time spread into Tuesday. Because I left immediately after our session, I’m still not sure how well it was received. One thing is sure: our crew of 7 was joined by 15 more players.
The intrepid group who drove down and played on the same day stayed the night in Athens. One of them decided to return to Thessaloniki by train, and Evridiki took the spare seat in the car.
As a first-time event, it ran very well but I think some of the “side” events proved to be a bit of a washout. Our “Introduction to Irish Music” workshop, while enjoyable, serves as an example. Only one young girl turned up … with a τουμπαράς, a kind of saz or – if you like – a primitive bouzouki. It had a lovely tone, three courses of strings tuned C, G, D (like the lower strings on a viola or cello) with a total of 7 strings, two doubles and a triple! The girl’s coach/tutor was with her, and she had a saz. In the 45 minutes we were together, we managed to do a jig and a polka, and by the end we were producing a really nice sound.
Here is a link to our session. The set was Irish Washerwoman/Behind the Haystack/Lark in the Morning. The Irish Washerwoman is rarely played nowadays as it has become so hackneyed, featuring in nearly every Hollywood film with an Irish theme. However, it remains a cracking jig. As you will note, things quieten down when the less familiar Behind the Haystack kicks in. Then, for some unknown reason, Lark in the Morning is missing, but the editor has included the Shetland reel, Willafjord.
https://www.facebook.com/stpatricksday.gr/videos/710660360050971
Thanos, the organiser, wants to get a session going in Athens. Ken, the proprietor of the Dubliner, gave him advice on the legal issues. (Bar owners in Athens appear to me over cautious.) I hope we “northerners” persuaded some of the fifteen players who joined us to start a session of their own.