Cormac Begley at Tradition Now: A glorious rollercoaster of an experience

Cormac Begley

National Concert Hall, Dublin

★★★★★

The transformational impact of a slew of traditional musicians on the nooks and crannies of the National Concert Hall over the weekend of Tradition Now was a thing of beauty to behold. Alongside the formality of performances on the main stage, there were sessions to be found scattered across the Kevin Barry room and the John Field room, each conjuring its own distinct mood and enabling punters to engage with the diverse mix of artists in both formal and informal settings.

Cormac Begley made his main stage debut at this venue, just six short years after releasing his debut solo album, and straight off a plane from London where he anchored yet another triumphant run of Michael Keegan Dolan’s Mám. To think that solo concertina can take such unequivocal possession of the main auditorium is an act of imagination in itself, but to see and hear how Begley gathered the entire room in his capacious gabháil from the opening set was a glorious rollercoaster of an experience.

Rhythm and tone are what anchor Begley’s music, and he rooted this performance with a belly deep take on Marcshlua Uí Néill (O’Neill’s cavalry march), the delicate notes of the melody tattooed by the emerging driving rhythms and the distinctive sound of the bespoke drones of one of four concertinas he played during the evening. It was a full-blown conversation marshalled by this most modest of instruments that drew the listeners in and kept them rapt for the remainder of the performance.

[ ‘A beast of a musician’: Video showing concertina master Cormac Begley goes viral ]

Later, he shared the provenance of Cad é sin an té sin (essentially meaning mind your own business) before launching into a set that saw him be fully immersed, the muscular concertina drawing on every sinew and muscle in Begley’s considerable frame until he lost himself in the ecstatic throes of the set.

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Twice, dancer, Stephanie Keane joined him, and met his driving rhythms with an equally robust but fleet of foot choice of dance steps, the pair ricocheting off one another’s energy to dramatic effect.

The arrival of fiddle player Liam O’Connor raised the bar further, and the pairing of viola and baritone concertina on the tune set. Craig’s Pipes and The Foxhunter added further spice: the marriage of low tones revealing further colours in the latter tune, collected in Clare by O’Connor’s father, Mick, many decades ago. The fiddle and treble concertina pairing later on a John Doherty tune was a gorgeous tonal doffing of the cap to the late Donegal fiddle player who was known for playing a tin fiddle.

Having seen Begley perform during the pandemic for an audience of no more than 15 at the foot of Mount Brandon, seated on the steps of his camper van Beauty, to witnessing his engaging Dalymount performances at Phizzfest, his progression to headline Tradition Now seems like the most natural journey in the world, and a testament to a musician with a singular voice – and a sharp wit.