May Morning Dew

Last night The Chieftains played The Sandler Center in Virginia Beach. It had been a solid 20 years since I'd seen this trail-blazing Irish band, so it was in some ways odd to see how the group has changed. To put it bluntly, The Chieftains are less like The Chieftains. That should be no surprise. One member, Derek Bell, has passed away, another longtime player, Matt Molloy, isn't touring with the band this time around. That leaves a trio at the band's core, piper and whistle man Paddy Moloney, singer and percussionist Kevin Conneff and fiddler Sean Keane. The talents of those three have in no way dimmed. Moloney's pipes playing was at times jaw-droppingly great. Conneff's a cappella "May Morning Dew" was transcendent. And Keane's fiddling was pure and soulful. The Chieftains have brought along a gang of younger players to compensate for the empty chairs. Many of those youngsters are tremendously talented. The band also gave a spotlight to a local Irish dancing group and a pipe and drum band from Richmond. All this made for a warm, memorable night of entertainment. But I couldn't help but wish I could hear more from the group's core. Oh, and one more observation. Moloney's comic chops were in full display last night. When his bandmates took solos, he often teasingly looked at his watch, pushing the player to wrap it up -- presumably to give Moloney more time in the spotlight. At one point, he made his penny whistle swing like the pendulum of a grandfather clock.