Irish Rovers Rock Shea

The weeks surrounding St. Patrick's Day are filled with a myriad of Irish culture and music. Most consider this a good time to see Irish concerts, but Larry Keary of Bergen County believes, "It's a good time EVERY year to see Irish concerts."

Trudy and Larry Keary, along with friends Linda and Patrick Begly, take advantage of the early spring season to see traditional Irish music played live, from concerts to parades. The Shea Center for Performing Arts provided them the opportunity to see The Irish Rovers, a renowned Irish folk band on Saturday Feb. 28.

William Paterson student Andrew McLean has been listening to the Rovers since he was young. Introduced to the band's music by his parents and grandparents, he turned to friends and fellow band mates, Reese Van Riper and Stephen Curnan. Begun in the 1940s by Van Riper's godfather's godfather, an Irish immigrant, The Reese Van Riper Band's (www.reesevanriper.com) current three members have taken time off from their weekly shows in New York City to write their own material.

Van Riper said, "We love the [Rover's] style and we love the music. We're hoping this will be some inspiration for us."

As The Irish Rovers came onstage, the crowd proffered a fantastic surge of cheers and applause that morphed into clapping and stomping as the band opened with their namesake song, "The Irish Rovers."

As the concert progressed, whoops and cheers from the crowd echoed those onstage from Rover founder, guitarist and singer, George Millar. In his wonderful lolling Irish accent, he encouraged the crowd to sing along to traditional songs like "Drunken Sailor," "A-Rovin'," and their most famous, signature song, "Unicorn," which swept a wave of nostalgia through the audience. A number of people could even be seen joining in during the chorus with the hand motions they learned as children.

Typical of the Irish folk style, the band interspersed a good measure of bittersweet and jovial. Mixed in were solemnly humorous songs such as, "When the Wife is Mad at Me (far away I'll safely be…)." In their two hours onstage they played a thorough mix of both new and old tunes, including a few Irish marching songs and ‘sea shanties' – ancient tunes sung to keep the sailors' rhythm as they pulled up a ship's anchor or sails. The boys in the band each had one foot unknowingly stomping along in synchronicity, as the audience also found themselves falling into that same foot-tapping rhythm.

More than simply a musical experience, The Irish Rovers performed an all around entertaining show. During songs, Millar and singer/guitarist, John Reynolds, induced chuckling with their off-mic banter and dancing. Between numbers the two had the crowd laughing and cheering with their intricately woven jokes and character impressions, and even a little bit of Irish history to round things out.

They even turned the famous song, "Black Velvet Band," into an onstage skit, where George Millar tried to give his cousin and bassist/back-up singer, Ian Millar, a verse to sing on his own. Instead the spotlight was literally stolen by the other band members, including the drummer and the crowd, who were encouraged to join in for the chorus.

Ian followed up the "Black Velvet" fiasco with a song he performed on his own, however. For "Pretty Susan" he put down his bass guitar and intricately fingered a classical acoustic riff alongside his low bass vocals.

Finally, the band finished with an original, upbeat 50s-style rock tune interspersed with Reynolds electric guitar riffs. "Wasn't that a Party," was written for the band by Tom Paxton – a buddy of theirs who recreated their antics from the night before – none of which they remembered. As Millar so eloquently said onstage, they stand by their claim that "Party" is not a true story.

According to George Millar, the band's spokesperson, the Rovers have been playing together for over 40 years. Currently a resident and citizen of Canada, Millar emigrated from Ireland while he was in his teens. He and friend, Jim Ferguson, who has since passed away, started the Rovers by playing shows in San Francisco.

The band's members and music have slowly morphed throughout the years. Although now most of their music is about half traditional and half original, Millar says, "In the 60s we were doing things like ‘Me and Bobby McGee' with tin whistles and mandolins." The band takes traditional Irish folk music and cleans up the verses and music for a contemporary North American audience. With regard to their original songs, they give them an older, folk-song sound. To someone who doesn't know better, the two sounds are indecipherable onstage.

"As long as you can legitimately make it sound good, people will like it," Millar says.

With regard to the humorous interjections onstage, Millar believes that, "If you write that stuff and try to do it, it doesn't work. Some of that stuff tonight I'd never seen before. We're not true comedians, we just have a good time."

After 40 plus years, the Rovers still love what they do. Every spring they tour extensively throughout North America, and find themselves in Australia and New Zealand every other year or so. In this six week tour, the band will play over 25 shows, with Shea Center being their first appearance.

According to Millar, touring is "a young man's game," but despite the trials and tribulations of road, Millar and the rest still love what they do. "If we didn't, the audience would soon know."

So how does a band of 40 years still stay strong?

Millar believes that, "You have to go with it and have a good time. We enjoy it and we enjoy each other. It's like a marriage. Sometimes there's bickering, but you work through it."

For more information on the Irish Rovers, or to hear clips of their music, visit them at www.IrishRovers.info.

William Paterson student Andrew McLean has been listening to the Rovers since he was young. Introduced to the band's music by his parents and grandparents, he turned to friends and fellow band mates, Reese Van Riper and Stephen Curnan. Begun in the 1940s by Van Riper's godfather's godfather, an Irish immigrant, The Reese Van Riper Band's (www.reesevanriper.com) current three members have taken time off from their weekly shows in New York City to write their own material.