by Zahid Fayyaz

Taking over from The Devil Wears Prada at the Dominion Theatre is this special, one-off show in London about The Dubliners, one of Ireland’s biggest and most well-known bands. The story unfolds on a stage done up like the renowned Dublin bar O’Donoghue’s, where the band began their journey in 1962 and contributed to the revival of traditional Irish music. A five-piece band shared the history of the music group, from their early beginnings to almost 50 years later on The Late Late Show in 2008.

The show balanced paying respect to the band members who died along the way, whilst also being raucous and lively when they were locked into the songs. The title song of the show ‘Seven Drunken Nights’ was banned from RTE in the 60s, which certainly shows how things were so censorious in the past and the band’s journey through the years. This song, ‘Irish Rover’, and the ubiquitous ‘Whisky in the Jar’ are the highlights of the show musically, with the crowd on their feet for the majority of the second half of this performance. Whilst some of the jokes between the songs are a little basic, it is hard to complain about the quality of the musicianship and songs on the stage.

Whilst obviously geared towards fans of the band, this is still a very entertaining and fun show for everyone who can appreciate Irish music, and is well worth catching on this tour or a future one.

Seven Drunken Nights: The Story of the Dubliners tours through 2 May.

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