Last evening, we caught the third installment of Aimee’s birthday present from last year, an evening with The Chieftains at Symphony Hall in Boston. They’ve been around 43 years, they’ve released nearly one album a year over that time (including the one mentioned above), and I think this was my third time seeing them. They never disappoint, with technically amazing playing, a host of special guests, and a terrific stage presence and sense of humor.

This time around, they’re technically promoting their latest album, a tribute to the late Derek Bell, longtime member of the group, though at this point, they’re really playing a whole lot of everything. The show bounced around from group medley to solo instrumental performance to step-dancing spectacular, with local dancers as well as some professionals on tour with band. Jon and Nathan Pilatzke, fleet-footed brothers from Ontario, stole the show when they were on stage, which is hard to do. Another pair of brothers, Carlos and Jorge Nunez, played on a number of tunes, bringing their talents from Celtic Galicia to bear on pipes, drums, vocals, guitars, and even a travel case for an amp, upon which Jorge did his best John Bonham impression.



By the end of the show, I counted at least 25 people on stage, including a half-dozen locals from the Burren, a little girl on fiddle (who gave the evil eye to the little girl step dancer when she came in and stole her spotlight), a bagpiper, and a dozen dancers. It’s no long day spent getting slowly smashed at Kitty O’Shea’s or the Black Rose, but I think it’s better this way.