It was at this time last year that I had my first introduction to "The Dubliners Encore." The creation of John Sheahan, the last surviving member of the original Dubliners and his daughter, Ceoladh, along with musical direction from the great songwriter, musician and producer, Phil Coulter and direction by accomplished film and television director, Maurice Sweeney, the show recaptures the halcyon days of the 1960's and 1970's when The Dubliners brought Irish folk music and song to audiences around the world in a fresh and original way. Many fine singers and musicians graced The Dubliners over the years, but the definitive line up is often seen as Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Ciaran Bourke, Barney McKenna and of course, John Sheahan himself and this is what is recaptured in the Encore performance. Kilian (Ronnie), James (Luke), Jeremy (Ciaran), Adam (Barney) and Aidan (John) not only capture the vocal and instrumental styles of these great exponents of their art, but manage to project an accurate representation of their personalities as well.  In addition, the show is narrated by that other famous Dublin native, Imelda May and interspersed with original film, plus anecdotes and stories from John . 

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening in Birmingham Town Hall and wonderful to go back to the years of my childhood and adolescence when I first heard many of the classic songs and tunes from the Dubliners that we were treated to. Plenty of singing and clapping along and before the night was through, we were on our feet as well. I was also delighted to meet Tour Manager, Ollie and the lads backstage afterwards for a chat and catch up. Many thanks to Ceoladh for organising the evening for me and this Northern Irish ex pat was very pleased the next day to sing "I'll Tell Me Ma" ( a traditional Belfast song, performed by the group during their encore) and to introduce the show to a new audience in our weekly Music Academy with colleagues in our team in Bangladesh. I wish all concerned well for the rest of the tour and it really is great be reminded of the tremendous contribution made by this particular line up of The Dubliners to the world of music.