When the Irish Voice approached Byrne, shortly before show time on the stage at the pub garden tent, the look of concern on his face was obvious.

"They don't have a PA system here for us," he said. "We have people in the process of borrowing equipment from some of the other bands. We'll see how this goes."

He needn't have worried. Armed with new players like former Prodigals bassist Andrew Harkin and drummer Terry Wetmore, Seanchai transformed itself into a force of nature that demanded to be heard regardless of the state of the amplifiers behind them.

Byrne has both pioneered and fine tuned the formula of mixing uilleann pipes and bodhrans with the beats of the street for two decades; scratches from the turntables punctuated the tin whistle trills, with thrilling effect.

Without the full use of his equipment, Byrne was forced to abandon the turntables and draw from other urban rhythms like soul, reggae, and funk instead.

Did you ever wonder what Sly and the Family Stone would sound like with pipes and drums? The band broke into a relentless funky jam that mixed their back catalogue with "Thank You for Letting Me (Be Mice-Elf Again)," Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely," and Marley's epic "Redemption Song."

In a particularly poignant moment, the band dedicated their 9/11 tribute, "Gates of Hell," to the Port Authority crew who were manning the pipe and drums in the crowd.

Seanchai, who normally ply their trade at Rocky Sullivan's at 29th and Lexington on the weekends, decided to air out some new songs in the sea salt breeze of the shore.

"Bogside Girl" was a simmering slice of soul that bodes well for Seanchai fans begging for some new tunes. I am assured by Byrne, who has been filling his days as a criminal justice professor at St. John's University (ask him what "victimology" is; he knows his stuff!), that the band has been working in "the lab" cooking up new songs for imminent release.