MORRISBURG – At the end of Saturday night’s sold out concert at Upper Canada Playhouse, the audience simply refused to let the Leahy family off the stage. They had to come back and perform two encores. And even then, the crowd, on its feet and cheering, was reluctant to see them go. October 5th ‘s St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage season opener was an exhilarating show case making it clear just why the Celtic roots musicians of Leahy are such Canadian mega stars.
The core family band of Denise, Frank, Maria, Siobheann, Erin and Xavier brought five other family ‘guests’ with them to their Morrisburg concert.
From the moment the musicians burst on to the stage with fiddles, pianos, acoustic and bass guitars, a rhythm section and a unique accordion, the crowd was swept up into their energy and their passion. Leahy lets the music speak for them, their ancient Celtic roots overlaid by modern jazz, rock, country, blue grass and folk flavours. As Denise said in an earlier Leader interview, “It’s going to be a very lively evening.”
It was.
Leahy’s pieces ranged from the deeply touching classic, “The Skye Boat Song,” to a heart-felt piece written to honour a friend’s child, lost to cancer, “Borrowed Time,” “Turn out the light/And let me love you one more night…Someday we’ll understand.”
The artists were also able to rock the hall with such numbers as “Anywhere with You” and “Good Water.” And when the four brilliant young step dancers came out on stage, their steps and timing impeccable, the audience often burst into spontaneous applause. To be honest, virtually every family member can dance at the drop of a fiddle…and did during the show.
The musicians of Leahy are extraordinarily versatile. On Saturday night, they introduced a number of songs from the new live album they are releasing October 25, including the Xavier’s stunning performance of his piece “Joie de Vivre.”
These artists sing, they play a variety of instruments, they dance and they seem to radiate joy from the stage. Sometimes, “for fun”, younger band members create some music right on the spot, as they demonstrated with a delightful ‘duelling guitars’ excerpt.
There were beautiful duets, and quartettes, and solo songs (Emily’s ‘Tell Me Momma’) that everyone loved. The audience was often invited to sing or clap along with the music, and they did, with great enthusiasm. It was a concert that made it difficult to remain seated.
“Our music comes from our parents, a tradition passed on to us. Now our children have joined us in this tradition.”
Leahy’s is a musical tradition that lives and thrives. Frankly, on Saturday night, you never knew what to expect from this extraordinary group, and that was part of the sheer joy of their show.
At the end, Leahy told us that we had been an “amazing audience.” Not at all difficult after hearing and seeing and loving such amazing performers as the family Leahy.