When we saw that Seven Drunken Nights was coming to the Chatham Capitol Theatre, we couldn't pass up the opportunity for a rousing night of Irish music. The "play" is more of a live telling of the story of legendary Irish folk band The Dubliners, and their lengthy career that began in the early 1960's.
After attempting to eat at The Satellite downtown, we left after waiting an inordinate amount of time for someone to come and serve us - even though we had been greeted on arrival. We went next door to the Elephant's Nest and were delighted to see the same menu - which we only recognized from looking online because we never did see one at The Satellite! Turns out the same owner runs both establishments with a shared kitchen - so we enjoyed great food, good music and much better service on the bar side!
The stage was set at the Capitol Theatre - literally - as the interior of an Irish pub. Most of the band members were fairly young in comparison with the real band - all of whom have now passed away. They did feature one elder statesman in his 70's who was the main storyteller. They even had a bartender that kept refilling their drinks....which were mainly Guinness!
While the tales were great, including details of the the band's successes and tragedies, it was really the music weaving all the stories together that made the evening. Guitars, banjos, fiddle and pennywhistle rounded out the rich harmony of vocals served up by the troupe.
We recognized more songs that we might have thought, traditional songs that a host of other bands have also covered over the years, including "Finnegan's Wake", "The Black Velvet Band", "The Wild Rover" (Great Big Sea), "Whiskey in the Jar" (Metallica and many others) and "Dirty Old Town" (The Pogues).
After much hand-clapping and foot-stomping, we headed for home with a smile on our faces and a song in our hearts.
Chatham Capitol Theatre
Seven Drunken Nights
The Boys down at the Pub
The bartender brings another round!
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