For Immediate Release
Brian Carney, Esq. & the Barristers
Shine in Debut Performance
Crowd reacts with amazing poise in holding back applause while thoroughly enjoying an evening with the most exciting Irish band to hit North America since the Clancy Brothers first appeared on the Lawrence Welk show in 1961.
QUINCY, Mass. – March 15, 2009 – In the quiet, lazy City of Presidents, on Saturday night of St. Patrick’s day weekend (March 14, 2009), the greatest Irish band to ever exist exploded onto the Irish music scene at the majestic Sons of Italy function hall on Quarry Street in Quincy. Overcoming some initial scheduling issues and, quite frankly, some palpable nervousness on the part of the people running the fundraiser, Brian Carney and the Barristers hit the stage around 8:30PM. The band which has been only together for about two and a half weeks, consist of Seamus McRizk (a.k.a. Youssef Rizk, Esq.), Paddy McGillicuddy (a.k.a. Chris Bailly, Esq.), Shannon O’Becker (a.k.a. Chris Shannon Becker) and Brian Carney (the Best Irish Busker Who Ever Lived). Declan O’Hanlon (a.k.a Joseph Serra), who likes to think of himself as the sound engineer and part-time drummer helped set up the band’s equipment earlier in the afternoon and then allegedly had to scurry off to a party for “Aunt Clara” (... sure Declan). The band believes that, like Kristy McMorris (a.k.a. Kristin Morris), the band’s agent, Declan wanted to be nowhere near that train wreck at time of impact.
The evening was a success due not in small part to the willingness of the band to explore novel musical boundaries. Blasting through the first set with Brian’s guitar completely out of tune was a feat that not many bands could have pulled off quite as successfully as they did. Brian said: “The key was our sound was being completely smothered by the excessively loud conversations that the capacity crowd of over 300 were enjoying. We were just totally drowned out and no one even noticed we were on stage much less out of tune. It was beautiful.”
During the second set, once Brian was back in tune, Paddy McGillicuddy tried to pull off another amazing musical first. Keeping his left hand (bass notes) in tune, he decided to sail unchartered musical waters using an original method of de-tuning his right hand (about two and a half steps out of key). While the band appreciated his attempt at innovative musical experimentation, they did not quite appreciate the terrible sound coming from his keyboards -- especially during the band’s signature tune “Finnegan’s Wake.” The Barristers have just renamed that tune “McGillicudy’s Wake” just to remind Paddy never to do that again.
Seamus McRizk and Shannon O’Becker were stupendous on backup vocal harmonies. Although, the DJ, Mike Falco, in an unsolicited comment, said O’Becker was “a liability” on the tambourine. Seamus’s finger-picking was also unparalleled -- at least in his mind, because no one else could hear his guitar.
The only time during the evening that the band was in any kind of jeopardy of physical harm being done to them was when Paddy McGillicuddy, either out of a keen sense of Irish wit or just plain negligence, unplugged the electrical cable powering the DJ’s sound system. Putting aside the potential electrical damage to the equipment, the DJ, Mike Falco, could have decided to throw Paddy into an unruly, disgruntled crowd. But again, thanks to the complete disinterest of the crowd, the music stoppage went totally unnoticed. The second time the DJ went “unplugged” (so to speak). . . well again, let’s just say we were lucky it wasn’t a wedding.
Overall, the evening was quite a success evidenced by the many compliments received and requests for future performances. The next day Mark and Tricia Kelliher were obviously very grateful saying the music was fantastic and really added professionalism to their entire event (obviously they had to have been in either deep conversation during the hour long performance or a drunken stupor). Mark suggested that the Barristers learn some rock n’ roll tunes to complement the sets because he would like to hire the band for an annual family get together. Brian’s next-door neighbor, Dave, was surprised to find that the band has been together for such a short time. Mike, another neighbor, said the band was “excellent.” Neighbors, Joe and Leslie, suggested a block party gig in the neighborhood this summer. One of the partygoers, Colleen, the niece of a woman who knows the owner of a small pub in Hingham, Massachusetts, has vowed to get the Barristers a gig at Snug Harbor. The owner of Nostalgia (where Irish Music is played every Sunday afternoon) was in attendance and the DJ, not realizing he still owes Brian Carney money from a gig about 19 years ago, suggested the Barristers contact Jim McGettrick for a potential future venue. The DJ also asked if the Barristers would be interested in another even bigger fundraiser at the much larger Florian Hall in Dorchester in June of 2009. .
Rumors abound that the performance was recorded both on audio-tape and videotape. Refusing to produce the tapes, Brian Carney simply cited executive privilege (US v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974)).
About Brian Carney, Esq. & the Barristers (http://www.thebarristers.net)
Brian Carney and the Barristers is an attorney owned and operated Irish band. They will play at any gig they are invited to and some that they invite themselves to.
Media Contact:
Kristy McMorris
Brian Carney and the Barristers
1400 Hancock St.
5th Floor
Quincy, MA 02169
617.786.0700
