Weed & Seed's first fundraiser was an amazing success. The Elders attracted more than 850 people to their energetic, upbeat concert on January 12th at the Capitol Theatre. Performances by the Butler-Sheehan Academy of Irish Dance and the YMCA Center for the Creative Arts incorporated out talented kids from Rome with this internationally known band. Ticket sales provided funding for the Prudy Ellinger Scholarship amd additional funding needed for Weed & Seed projects that are not covered by grants.
The following editorial was submitted by a proud Rome resident:
A Great Thing Happened in Rome Tonight
Several years ago, Rome, NY was suckered into hosting the 30th Anniversary Woodstock concert. Not to say it wasn't a great weekend of music right in my own back yard, but the fires and riots that ensued kind of left my hometown with a bad rap. The concert was huge, all the big named and smaller named bands were here and it was 4 days of great music. The center of the music world was right here for a weekend. What better for a music geek like myself?
Since then however, live music has been hard to come by round these parts. Tonight that changed and hopefully it's a harbinger for future things to come. Rome's chapter of the Weed & Seed Program sponsored an event tonight at our historic Capitol Theater. The night featured the nationally-renowned Celtic rock band The Elders along with the Butler-Sheehan Academy of Irish Dance and the Rome Family YMCA's Center for the Creative Arts Orchestra and Choir led by Scott Rutledge.
Most of you may not know the Elders. You should. They are a band based out of Kansas City that is fronted by a charismatic Irish expatriate named Ian Byrne. This band is one that screams to be seen in a live experience. They were undeniably the hit of last year's Great American Irish Festival in Frankfort, NY; winning over thousands of new fans over the course of the weekend. They did much of the same this very evening in the storied old movie house in Rome, NY.
Lead singer Ian Byrne is an outstanding showman with the gift of Irish gab that is able to get the most out of any audience. The audience tonight was comprised of a mixture of young and old. There were newborns in attendance along with many senior citizens and everyone in between. All were left with a feeling of exhilaration after 2 hours of high energy mayhem from these accomplished musicians. They packed the house 1400 strong and provided many exciting and chilling moments throughout their performance.
I took my mom to the show tonight. She had never heard any of the Elders' music before tonight but had heard me talking them up after last summer's GAIF. She loved it. There was an older couple, probably in their mid-70s, sitting in front of us. The husband at the beginning of the show was sitting with arms crossed, probably wondering when he could get out of there to watch the football playoffs. Two hours later, he was on his feet, clapping and playing along with Ian's gender-participation competition, which, not surprisingly, was won each time by the female audience members.
The typically somber Rome crowd sat politely in their seats for the first few songs until Ian invited all in attendance to grab their best guy or gal and slow dance in the aisles to one of their slow songs (I apologize for not knowing the titles of their songs, I'm a fairly new listener). The aisles slowly began to fill up, which led to a much more intimate feel to the show.
The young ladies from the Butler-Sheehan School entered the stage throughout the night to add a terrific touch to the jigs and reels played with that Elders touch. The band couldn't be more generous in offering up stage time to these young dancers, often urging them to come out when they weren't prepared to. Nice touch.
Also sharing the stage with the Elders this night was the youth orchestra of Rome's YMCA under the direction of Scott Rutledge. They joined the band for a chilling rendition of "What Child is This?" which earned a rousing standing ovation from the crowd. The YMCA choir then joined in for the Elders' signature show-stopper, the a capella "Men of Erin." The three times I have seen the Elders perform I have seen them perform this song 4 times. Tonight was the topper. It is a heartfelt song that evokes strong emotions and it is hard to find a dry eye in the house at song's end. I often find myself welling up. This version tonight with the 10 or so young children adding in on the chorus was over the top. Such a terrific song and a great version tonight. I sincerely hope that Buzz was recording tonight's performance for a possible future release, maybe as a benefit album. I would really love to relive some of the moments of this outstanding show.
As the second set wore on, it was obvious that some of the older folks and even some of the not-so-older folks were getting tired. Ian remedied this with some more crowd-participation games and the band followed suit with some rousing Celtic-inspired contemporary rock and roll. "Packy Go Home," "Fire in the Hole," and "Ten Pound Earhole" had the crowd back on their feet and the band rollicking on stage to finish out the show.
All in all, the show was a resounding success. The band undoubtedly won over several hundred more new fans and Rome Weed & Seed benefited from an over the top fundraiser. It was such a great time and it was all had right here in my hometown.
It was so nice to be able to catch such a high quality show so close to my home. I've been attending concerts regularly for 25 years. There was a time when this area would see several national acts come through and I would hit as many as I could. However, with the corporatization of the concert industry over the past 10 years or so, it has become increasingly harder to get quality national acts to appear in Central New York. Tonight was so refreshing. A high-quality national act appeared in my hometown....and KILLED! I had a great time and so did everyone in attendance tonight.
Thank you Elders for coming and being so generous with your performance and sharing of the stage. Rome thanks you immensely. I hope you had as great a time as we all had and that we'll see you back soon. I really hope that this show my be the beginning of a renaissance of great live music in this area. If not, I know we will at least have the annual Great American Irish Festival in Frankfort in June.
In short, if you ever hear of the Elders coming to your town, put aside all your preconceived notions of Irish/Celtic music and get your ass to the show. You will thank me for it. These guys are the real deal.
Photos by Julie Stickel