Photo of Horslips in Donegal, circa 1976.
Courtesy of Louise Edington.
Photo of Horslips in Donegal, circa 1976.
Courtesy of Louise Edington.
Among today’s rock bands, Horslips stand out as truly unique; I know of few bands who are so actively concerned about the welfare and happiness of their fans, and among Irish bands they are even more outstanding. Having created a sound that is totally unlike anything happening on the Irish music scene (let alone the English), they don’t capitalise on it by rushing off to England and America, like most other Irish bands of any merit have done; they do fairly regular tours of Britain and Europe but above all prefer to please their Irish fans and repeatedly play the rounds of the “Showband Circuit” – dance halls in towns and remote villages all over Ireland, bringing a welcome draught of excellent music to their delighted fans, who otherwise would hear nothing but identical “showbands” - C&W-inspired groups whose repertoire consists almost entirely of other people’s songs. Horslips are the “Dancehall Sweethearts” indeed, and write all their own material.
Once such dancehall is the Culdaff Arms, also a hotel, in the most northerly corner of Donegal. Horslips played there on April 23rd, and the hall was crammed to bursting with fans who had come from miles around to hear the band, some hitch-hiking considerable distances, and many prepared to walk, hitch or cycle a long way home, transport being sparse. Posters advertising the gig as far away as Derry merely bore a picture of the group and the one word “Culdaff” – nothing else was necessary.
I met Barry Devlin, the group’s bassist, in the hotel foyer. “Come up to the superstar suite”, he said, and showed me into a dingy bedroom strewn with the band’s gear, and drummer Eamon Carr curled up uncomfortably in the bed, snatching a few minutes of welcome sleep.
Ecstatic
As I had surmised, the band largely prefer touring in Ireland – they can be sure of huge, ecstatic audiences, whereas in England they might only half-fill a hall. “It’s not the cleverest arrangement as far as money goes, but it’s fun.”
A comparison with showbands was inevitable, and Barry said that the fans who came to see them were never the showband audiences. “We have a very young audience,” he said. “We get the Status Quo crowds – they want to boogie, whereas the showband audiences don’t feel they can dance to our music. Even in England, they’re very young.” “Younger than students?” I asked. “Different to students.” (Although Horslips’ university tours are always very popular.)
This would seem surprising coming from a band whose roots are firmly embedded in Irish traditional music (albeit heavily rocked-up versions), using time-honoured traditional instruments such as bodhran and uilleann pipes. Most of the band had been steeped in traditional music since childhood. Would this bond with Irish folk music not attract folk audiences as well? “We repel them!” said Barry, laughing. “They think we massacre the old music. At one time we were called ‘The Grave Face of Folk.’” All the band are Irish-speaking, and like to feel they have done their bit towards the preservation of the Irish language by singing some of their songs in Irish – “although hardly anyone understands it.”
Patriotism
All the same, their fanatic Irish following must be largely due to patriotism – basically, they make young people proud to be Irish by raising the standards of essentially Irish music and maintaining Ireland’s age-old cultural heritage, not by harking back to old times, but by bringing it up to date.
Do they see themselves as folk heroes, then? “We don’t see ourselves as folk heroes, “said Barry, “but objectively speaking, I suppose we are. Kids travel from all over the place to see us, and then have miles to walk home… I hate to see them walking home like that.” He then described a recent gig where many kids were walking home in pouring rain, and the group had run a “shuttle service” and got most of them home safely. It was this sort of friendly concern that impressed me most about Horslips, and to prove his point, Barry drove a friend and myself home after the gig, a round trip of some ten miles, giving lifts on the way to as many as could be crammed in the big white Range Rover.
Exploited
They also run their own record label, Oats, based in Dublin, which they say gives them “artistic control” - again, it seems they don’t wish to be exploited by England and America.
Any doubts anyone might have had about Horslips’ devoted following would have been dispelled at the concert that followed. For over two hours they played to an ecstatic audience, and the crush of surging bodies in the front rows was quite alarming. Guitarist Johnny Fean and multi-instrumentalist Charles O’Connor contribute much towards the group’s texture and highly original sound, and keyboards player Jim Lockhart doubles on tin whistles and flute, literally at one stage, because he played two tin whistles at once! As for Barry Devlin and Eamon Carr, they seemed to have tireless energy, sustaining a driving beat where necessary, always rhythmically precise and full of attack, but not overstating their playing during quieter moments. The set included perennial favourites like “Furniture” and “Dearg Doom” – all better than ever, as well as a totally new 25-minute preview of a forthcoming concept album, as yet untitled, based on the story of the mythical Tuatha de Danaan, ancient bringers of magic and wisdom to Ireland, and the basis for many Irish legends about “little people”. It was the usual blend of strong, dramatic folk-based melodies, refreshing creativity, dynamic rhythms and arresting lyrics. One notable line was “You won’t see us, we move sideways to the sun.” I asked Eamon Carr, largely the group’s lyricist, about it afterwards and, as I suspected, he confessed to having been a poet before joining Horslips. In fact he was once part of the “Liverpool Poets” scene with McGough, Henri, etc. He is also very knowledgeable about ancient Irish history and legends. Such a mind does not pass unnoticed in Horslips’ original compositions – the lyrics are generally of a stimulating, rich and very visual quality. Horslips fans will probably be pleased to know that the new material marks a return to the ‘Táin’ period Horslips that we know and love after the rather unfortunate “Cup of Tea” album and their toying with commerciality.
Deafening
The audience were deafening in their appreciation, as indeed they had been the last time I saw Horslips, in Derry, but at that time I wondered if this was partly due to the fact that the young rock-starved people of Derry would welcome any band adventurous enough to play there. In fact, Barry told me of a previous occasion in Derry when fans had actually beaten a hole through the wall to get in! But the Culdaff audience proved the phenomenal popularity of the band, and the band proved themselves as deserving every bit of it. It is rare to find a band who genuinely care about their fans, and prove their loyalty by playing as much as possible on home ground.
An English tour is planned for the end of the year, and I hope to see them here at Southampton (are you listening, Events?) England is beginning to love Horslips as much as Ireland do, but I feel sure that the band will continue to play for their grateful Irish fans as much as possible. A band like Horslips is far too good to miss anywhere.
