Review: Seven Drunken Nights, Theatre Royal, Wakefield

It's hard to believe that the Dubliners played for the last time in 2012 after 50 years of entertaining the world with their lively renditions of  Irish folk songs, traditional street ballads and instrumentals.
The cast of Seven Drunken NightsThe cast of Seven Drunken Nights
The cast of Seven Drunken Nights

Over their 50-year reign there were a number of lineups - 11 members in all.

The members of the sell-out audience at Theatre Royal Wakefield on a sunny Saturday afternoon were undoubtedly Dubliners fans, singing and clapping from the moment the five-strong band walked on to the stage of Seven Drunken Nights.

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Ostensibly a tribute show, set in a Dublin pub, complete with pints of 'Guinness' on the table, the skilled musicians worked their way through the Dubliners back catalogue with snippets of information about the band, the members and their music narrated by band member Ged Graham.

Not very subtle and with lots of stereotypes thrown in for good measure, but hugely enjoyable, nevertheless.

The musicians played a variety of stringed instruments but were missing Billy Barton and his tin whistle which left some of the classic tunes lacking and the limited use of the bodhran which only made a brief appearance, was a shame.

A backdrop of images of old Dublin and the Dubliners running throughout the show was unnecessary, especially as they used the same ones time and time again, which was really irritating.

On the whole though this was a great reminder of the band that introduced generations to Irish folk music and hopefully will introduce generations more.

sevendrunkennights.com

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