No Banjo

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Tonight I saw the best band I’ve ever seen in concert and it was free. I haven’t seen that many concerts, but enough for that to be a big deal since I wasn’t at an amphitheater or anything. No Banjo – the group Franklin sent Zach and me to see the first night we arrived in Galway, but couldn’t find – played at the Roisin Dubh tonight. I’m guessing that might be Irish for black rose. The Roisin Dubh is a music venue for all kind of musicians - known, unknown and not yet discovered.

No Banjo is a local favorite in Galway and I can see why. They were wonderful!!! I can’t stop singing their praises. Not a single song in the 2 hour set left me feeling bored. They mix blues, rock n’roll, Cajun rhythms, you name it. While they were a part of the Americana festival, they play regularly on Sunday nights at the Roisin Dubh. Sadly, they only play two more weeks before they head to Munich I think. They will be back to play once more on December 17th. I was excited to find that their new album comes out September 25th.

There are five guys who comprise No Banjo. Tom Wait is the band’s front man who mixes theatricality with a crazy awesome voice capacity from hymns to wailing. Four of the men take turns singing. They use drums, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, kazoo, harmonica, trumpet and bullhorn to name a few.

They did a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Black Dog, but it was done with more of a blues feel, which is ironic because Zeppelin’s later stuff swayed toward the blues as well. No Banjo did the cover in a way that made it their own and didn’t take away from the original in any way. It was something completely different. Being a Zeppelin fan, I was very impressed.

Next Sunday I’m taking my camera and recording. I think I can then post a sample of their performance up on the blog.