Gaelic Storm

Gaelic Storm
1/12/2011
Event Rating: ★★★★☆
Venue: Culture Room (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

Gaelic Storm came prepared. Spoon solos, bagpipe chimes, accordion drones, harmonica hums, guitar strums, and fiddle bows filled the intimate space of the Culture Room on January 12.

Brewing with anticipation well before the first act even left the stage, the crowd was ready too. With cup-fulls of Guinness they welcomed the down-to-earth Celtic rock band to the stage.

The show began with oldie but goodie “Johnny Jump Up” off of Gaelic Storm’s first album in 1998. Lead singer Patrick Murphy shined as a striking and theatrical storyteller, framing an Irish country music atmosphere in the venue, highlighted by playful folk undertones.

“This is a sexy song, more sexier than Ricky Martin,” Murphy said as he introduced the next number, “Born to be a Bachelor.” This second tract heightened the already jovial tenor of the performance.

Prepping the audience before each number with an anecdotal explanation of the song’s origin, Murphy even prompted the crowd to join along in singing the familiar notes.

Fans definitely responded, erupting in bursts of hurrah during “Rum Runner,” “Raised on Black and Tans,” and the crowd favorite, “The Night I Punched Russell Crowe.”

Gaelic Storm evened the night out with tunes from their latest album, “Cabbage,” released in August of 2010. Cabbage, their eighth album, reached the number nine spot on the iTunes charts.

Reviewed by Alex Roland

Tags: accordion, bagpipes, Cabbage, Celtic, Celtic Rock, Culture Room, Fort Lauderdale, Gaelic Storm, Guinness, guitar, harmonica, Irish, Johnny Jump Up, Patrick Murphy, Russell Crowe, spoons