Supergroup for Kenmare concert
TRADITIONAL super group 'Frankie Gavin & De Dannan' will perform a special concert at Carnegie Arts Centre on Saturday July 17 following a national tour of China which concludes this week. The Kenmare date is part of the Munster Fleadh celebrations.
The band were invited to undergo a tour of China with the 'Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra' in early July, first stop was a performance at the official Shanghai Grand Theatre's World Expo.
In addition to performing in the cities of Shanghai, Suzhou and Changchun, the band & orchestra opened the Beijing Festival summer season with two concerts presented at the prestigious National Center for the Performing Arts at the Opera House.
Each of these concerts were broadcast to hundreds of millions of people via television on Beijing TV and China Central TV stations. Additionally the concerts were broadcast 'Live' via a variety of media, including radio and web portals, as well as on 102 giant screens in Beijing's shopping malls, squares and landmarks. Following these prestigious dates the band will return to Ireland and perform a one off concert in Kenmare.
Two of the band members — Damien Mullane and Mike Galvin — live in Kerry while a third, Eric Cunningham, is no stranger to Killarney after having lived there for a number of years and having produced shows such as the 'Women of Ireland' at the INEC in Killarney.
Frankie Gavin, speaking about the band's performance in Kenmare said: "I'm really looking forward to being back performing in Kerry again and we know we will have a great night at Carnegie Arts Centre. Between trips to Singapore, Australia and China the band have been overseas quite a bit so the date in Kenmare is one we are eagerly awaiting on home turf."
For many years 'De Dannan' were the forerunners in the Irish traditional music world but after 33 years, 14 albums and a number of changes in the line up, the group disbanded in 2003.
The band at that point had been responsible for bringing singers Dolores Keane, Mary Black, Maura O'Connell and Tommy Fleming, amongst many others, to international prominence. In August 2009, Frankie Gavin unleashed a new 'De Dannan' line up which in his own words "reflects a 'De Dannan' of the 21st century".
A new album featuring the most recent 'De Dannan' line up, entitled 'Jigs, Reels & Rock 'n' Roll', is due for release during the August bank holiday weekend to mark the establishment of the new band the same weekend one year before. The album includes a guest appearance by Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones.
'Frankie Gavin & De Dannan' will perform at Carnegie Arts Centre on July 17 at 10pm.
