Clancy, O'Connell and Clancy - Live from the Blackthorne Tavern

February 10, 2003

Live from the Blackthorne Tavern in Easton, Massachusetts.

Living where I am, I'd been lucky to attend countless concerts with all the various lineups of the Clancy and Makem families throughout the 80s, 90s and early 2000s. Of all the shows I attended, this is my all time favorite. So glad I captured it with my camcorder all those years ago. It was an intimate evening, in a small tavern with a fierce heavy snowstorm blowing outside. It almost didn't happen but a blizzard never gets in the way of a good night of Irish music, especially in New England.

I was 18 at the time and drove with my dad and a friend of the family from my college in Bridgewater, Ma to the Blackthorne Tavern in South Easton, Ma. Usually a 15 minute drive. I think it took us about 45 minutes. We got there around 7:30. The show was supposed to start at 8 but didn't get going until 9. Despite the storm the show was mostly sold out with about 150 people.

There was about a 30 minute intermission. Liam signed my copy of his autobiography, "The Mountain of the Women: Memoirs of an Irish Troubadour," with a personal note thanking me for all the archive material I'd been posting on his website's message board. I was a regular there and checked every day after classes. Nerd.

So sit back, preferably on a snowy night, maybe by the fire if you have one, with a pint or a brandy by your side, and enjoy.