Gael Force
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Various ArtistsBrand: Koch International
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, Compilation, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-08-08
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Foreign Media Group
Movie Reviews of Gael Force
Movie Review: Songs for Ireland
Summary: 5 Stars
Gael Force
I saw this for the first time on PBS during a fund raiser, and it was constantly interrupted by pledge pleas. I've wondered for years if I could ever find a copy, and here it is! This is a marvelous condensation of a week-long celebration of Irish music in Dublin featuring some of the best contemporary (as of 1997) performers. Along with some of my favorites, the program includes bands and individuals with whom I was not familiar - and who joined my list of favorites as a result of their appearances here.
I can't put the disk in the player without watching three tracks in particular. The Canadian family band Leahy plays with the Chieftains with such unbridled energy that one feels exhausted when they're finished. The nine brothers and sisters play a charging medley in B minor that finishes with one of the girls leading off with a hard shoe volley and the rest of the siblings joining her three and four at a time. By the end it sounds like they're about to make the roof collapse, and the applause as they take a bow is even more deafening. Like another reviewer, I bought this disk largely on the strength of my memory of Christy Moore's "City of Chicago". For years I've been wandering around singing the chorus - the only part of the song I could remember - and hoping I could hear him sing it again. Apart from the sheer power of his words about the Great Famine in 1847, the amount of music he creates with his single guitar and his affecting voice is amazing. Near the end fiddler Ashley MacIsaac plays "Tullochgorum" with the Chieftains. He looks stark, raving, barking mad and from his facial expression the music seems to be ripping from his very soul, but his ability is phenomenal and flawless. The crowd goes as mad as Ashley looks when he starts step-dancing without breaking stride in his incredibly energetic playing.
The most frustrating thing about Gael Force for me is that it is a condensation. I would dearly love to see the full performances from Sharon Shannon, Altan, De Dannan, and some of the others. I had never seen Eleanor Shanley, but I loved her a cappella performance of "Still I Love Him", the Irish lament of the devotion of a wife to her neglectful and emotionally abusive husband. She clutches her silent guitar all through the song, and her voice is so powerful that I found myself wishing that I could see the rest of her set. Afro Celt Sound Machine delivers a wonderful blend of the two styles of music and left me wanting more as well.
Some of the tracks seem somewhat out of place. Brian Kennedy is an Irish singer who is simply doing American rhythm and blues - fine for what it is, but a little anomalous for a program of mostly traditional and folk-based music. Sinead O'Connor has a strong voice and one of her songs, "He Moved Through the Fair", is traditional. Her version is a little louder and shriller than I like - I'm used to hearing the song sung in a low, quiet delivery - but it's evocative nonetheless.
This is simply my assessment based on my personal tastes. Others will enjoy these passages as much as I did those mentioned above. I recommend this DVD for anyone who enjoys Celtic music.
Summary of Gael Force
For one week in 1997, Dublin's state-of-the-art Point Theatre played host to Gael Force, possibly the greatest gathering of Celtic musicians, singers and dancers in one venue that the city has yet encountered. With The Chieftains, Clannad, Mary Black, De Dannan, Sin?ad O'Connor, Tommy Fleming and others.Filmed at Dublin's Point Theatre in 1997, Live Concert of the Greatest Irish Artists: Gaelforce features Ireland's best performers in front of an enthusiastic audience. Paced for variety, the show mixes traditional acts such as the Chieftains and Christy Moore with contemporary acts such as Clannad and Sinead O'Connor. Other top artists include Frances Black, De Dannan, Altan, and Clannad. There's even a bit of dancing, most notably from the multitalented family Leahy, who leave their instruments to hard-shoe up a storm. Among the highlights are sisters Frances Black and Mary Black performing their respective signature numbers, "All the Lies That You Told Me" and "Song for Ireland." The artists occasionally share the stage, such as De Dannan with Mary Black, Maura O'Connell, Eleanor Shanley, and Tommy Fleming for "Hard Times," and Brian Kennedy with Clannad for "In a Lifetime." O'Connor sings her "Thank You for Hearing Me," then later closes the program with a stark "She Moved Through the Fair" that will stop you in your tracks. Previously released in 2000 as Gael Force. --David Horiuchi
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