The last stop on their five week tour was Anchorage, Alaska, and Dervish were tired and ready to get on that 2:30 AM plane back to Ireland. Despite having one foot on the runway, they delivered a powerful show that had anyone with a heartbeat clapping, swaying and doing that special wiggling movement that passes for dancing when confined to stadium seats.
The two double-stringed rhythm instruments, Brian McDonagh on the mandola and Michael Homles on the bouzouki, set the bottom line with rhythms and low-end, followed by Liam Kelly's flirtingly beautiful flute notes that evoked blue sky overhead. Tom Morrow and Shane Mitchell would jump into the mix together and take everything a notch higher, playing in lightspeed unison that left the audience gasping. Music played in spirals of excitement: it doesn't get any better than this.
In between tunes, Dervish created the appropriate support for songs sung in Irish, English and Gallic, songs that varied from traditional Irish to Bob Dylan (Boots of Spanish Leather). Cathy Jordan's clear alto cut through even the fullest arrangements, even leading the audience in an Irish language chorus during one song.
The biggest surprise was the encore. You could have knocked me over with a raindrop when Cathy Jordan came out and sang "Gypsies, Tramp and Thieves," and made it work as an Irish number. Now that's talent!
