| Magic is the art and
science of changing thought into form. Whatever the
definition, Seanchai, a band who book themselves as Irish
rebel hip-hop, certainly create magic when they're
onstage.
The impromptu musical caravan began Saturday night with Mike Bradley's (of The Thang fame) Birthday Soiree with a stop at the Brickyard to support one of our local original favorites, Rane. How did they get a gig at the Brickyard, home of the cover band? I heard it was serious perseverance by Rane. The crowd was totally receptive to their intricate jam blend.
Next, this 10-member troupe headed to the Half Door to check out Seanchai, a true smorgasbord of sound. We walked in on a hip-hop number as lead singer Chris Byrne was shouting, "If you want to be hip-hop, stop acting like a rock star." Byrne, formerly with Black 47, MCs with vocalist Rachel Fitzgerald from Dublin on backup.
DJ Flo is set up behind
the mandolin player Monty. When Byrne asks for a heavy
downbeat, DJ Flo kicks in with a drum loop and off they go.
Add in a few cover samples, such as "River of Babylon," and
Marvin Gaye's "Brother, Brother." But don't get too
comfortable there because then the music moves into an Irish
dancing jig, which brought people to their feet. Let's not
forget the reggae songs in the middle of the set so the
other half of the room would get up and dance.
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If none of those sounds
were right for you yet, wait, Fitzgerald sings an incredibly
beautiful original Irish ballad that has a traditional air
(that's Irish colloquialism for the word melody). Byrne on
uilleann pipes completes the haunting sound.
Seanchai's rebel part can
be found in a T-shirt hanging on a front monitor read
"Unrepentant Fenian Bastard," referring to the Republican
Party for a United Ireland, not anything like our
Republicans. In one ballad, Byrne continually sang the word
"saoirsa," and Fitzgerald would call back with the English
translation, "freedom."
Byrne was in the band
Black 47 for over 10 years. Seanchai, which means
storyteller in Gaelic, was a side project of his for the
past three years until he went full-time with them last
year. He owns a pub in Manhattan called Rocky Sullivan's and
splits his time between that and playing music. His roots
are in Ireland--his parents are from Donegal--although he
grew up in Brooklyn. After being a cop in the NYPD for 11
years and playing on the side, he went full-time into
music.
If you want to be
challenged by totally different genres coming at you all the
time, check these musicians out. The power of their art and
the rebellion in their message can change form into peace.
It's all part of the science of magic.
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