I live for the Mahones’ annual visit to Lethbridge and was not disappointed, Jan. 17.
Considering their new CD “Angels and Devils” is almost laden with more traditional instrumentation than usual, I was somewhat surprised to hear them playing a full bore punk rock show. I was surprised most of the packed house were glued to their seats. I halfway expected a mosh pit.
Frontman Finny McConnell was in his element, thrashing away on his guitar and yelling “We love you Lethbridge,” while his wife, Katie writhed all over the stage and literally bent over backwards while bending her accordion with a blissful expression pasted to her face.
The rhythm section drummer Dom “the Bomb” Whelen and bassist Paul Mancuso were locked in as the crowd danced and cheered in their seats. By the second set they gathered in front of the stage and danced.
“ While I missed the first few songs of the show, I arrived in the middle of a rousing version of “Shakespeare Road,” a rowdy rocker about drinking, which set the tone or a high octane night of whiskey powered Celtic punk.
They focused on the new CD, which isn’t a bad thing by any stretch, but also delved deep into their back catalogue for slower numbers like “London,” one of the few slower moments in a set dominated by their classic drinking songs like “Down the Boozer,” and “Whiskey Devils” among others.
They had the crowd shouting along with “Give it All You Got (Or Forget About It) a one of the highlights from their last CD “Black Irish” and the always popular “Queen and Tequila.” Then they took a brief breather.
Their second set was more energetic than the first, they brought out an amped up version of one of my favourites “One Last Shot,” and played some more high octane tracks from the new CD.
They tore things up with “Blood Is On Your Hands,” one of the darker songs from “Black Irish.”
“Is this Bar Open Tomorrow” was a crowd hit, which they began slowly then picked up the tempo.
They slowed things down on “Girl With the Galway Eyes,” one of Finny McConnell’s odes to his wife Katie.
They ended their show with a few upbeat songs with “Take No Prisoners,” which is on the soundtrack to Oscar winning film the Fighter as well as “Celtic Pride” and their classic “Drunken Lazy Bastard.”
