Success and lift-off. The inaugural Dubliner Session kicked off around 5pm on Sunday, 17th October. It was great to see a full pub. We were seated in a corner and, true to session “format”, we were facing in all directions. I think I was right to make sheet music available as several of the participants were quite new to the music and relied on it. We peaked at eleven musicians. I am very grateful that three members of Tir Fada showed up. Their presence was a great boost in terms of reducing our stress and, more importantly, increasing the quality of the music. A great character called Nikos also showed up. He is awaiting a new tenor banjo but – not to be outdone – he produced a ukulele tuned GDAE. Two violin teachers also showed up and, unsurprisingly, they were great.
The proprietor of The Dubliner also treated all the musicians brilliantly. More on Ken later.
What I am most pleased about is that one Welshman, an Englishman, an Irish-American, seven Greeks and I (the only Irish-born player) managed to create a genuine session with the tunes, the loosely arranged seating, the breaks, the conversations, the getting acquainted, the laughs – a little bit of Ireland was recreated in Thessaloniki.
What I am most displeased about is the Athenian indifference of the Greek-Irish Society and the Irish Embassy. Elsewhere I have alluded to a St. Patrick’s Festival held in a small town called Grevena (population around 26,000). It was cancelled this year and in 2020 because of the pandemic. The festival organiser asked Evridiki (Eurydice), one of the violinists, to come along, play and take photos and videos. She did. And she brought along fellow fiddler, Anna. Also, another couple from Grevena, in Salonika for the weekend, lent their support to the event. Which begs the question: where was Athens? The weather in Greece was foul last week, and even in good weather I would not expect people to make the 1,000-km round trip, but a little more promotion would have helped. The proprietor of the Dubliner has to cope with jealous rivals, extra checks from the authorities and a pandemic. A bit of support from Athens would have been helpful.
The next session is scheduled for Sunday, 14th November.