Theme Night #28 - How Can I Keep From Singing?
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo. 15th - 19th December 2021
I loved every minute. The energy brought from the likes of Tabby, Jamie and newcomer Cuan Durkin. The horn section on White Christmas. Sinéad Conway getting out of her pyjamas to come in and sing. The gong!
And how the half-capacity audiences made us believe the theatre was full.
Theme Night #27 - Summer and Sunshine
Streamed online. 16th July 2020
Because creative people like to create. Musicians are happiest when they are making music with others. Like any professionals we like to have projects, upcoming gigs, something to work towards. And there haven’t been many recently. So it was nice to have this – and it was even nicer because we got to share it with so many great people.
Theme Night #26 - Ireland in Song
Streamed Online. 23rd April 2020
It’s one we will always remember. One which demanded different talents and skills. One we all watched together but separately. One where a new generation of twenty somethings stepped up to the mark and delivered. One which put a much-needed smile on people’s faces.
I had never watched a theme night live on TV before. Many of the participants have noted that never before would they have had the time required to create and shoot videos of such a high standard. And certainly no theme night before ever reached such a wide audience.
Theme Night #25 - The Bee Gees and The Disco Era
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo. 5th - 7th February 2020
There was huge variety in the music this time – from the BeeGees early material, to their disco phase, to the songs they wrote for others, and then to the other disco hits from the likes of Gloria Gaynor, Barry White and Kool and the Gang that we included.
Theme Night #24 - Stevie Wonder
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo. 12th - 14th September 2019
What a pleasure it was to play the music of Stevie Wonder. A genius no doubt. The variety in his songs, the instruments he played, the themes he captured in his lyrics, the chords he managed to get into pop songs – amazing stuff all round and we all had a great time paying tribute to him in Theme Night #24.
Theme Night #23 - Springsteen Live in Dublin
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo. 2nd - 4th May 2019
This album was recorded over the course of 3 concerts in what was then known as The Point – in November 2006 in Dublin. One of my first piano students (he was about 18 at the time) went to the gig and he told me at our next lesson that it was the best gig he had ever seen. When the album came out the following summer I listened to it over and over again and fell for it.
Theme Night #22 - The Story So Far
Vicar St. Dublin. 7th Feb 2019
Sometimes you have to make a leap. For yourself, for the other people involved, for the future of the project. Once you decide this, then you must try and time it correctly. The same leap made too early or too late won’t work. And once you decide on when, then you must plan, think, work hard to give yourself the best chance of succeeding with your leap. And it still mightn’t come off. But it might.
Theme Night #21 - Duets
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo. 26th and 27th September 2018
In Theme Night #21 a huge gang of us had a blast performing a series of duets. For our slot, Niamh (left) and I put together a 4-handed classical/boogie arrangement of Flight of the Bumblebee. What struck me about the night though was the handshakes, hugs and smiles exchanged between performers after each performance finished. In each case there was a sense of something worthwhile achieved together, and performers who would usually sing on their own got a extra kick from having a partner-in-crime. It’s not always the answer, but sometimes if you want to achieve something, or just have a bit more fun along the way, all you need is someone else.
Theme Night #20 - Eagles
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo. 27th and 28th April 2018
I was told leading up to this night to get the guitars and harmonies right and I wouldn't be too far off. We hopefully got close enough! Lots of memorable moments from this show - however when 6 Sligo guitar legends got up together on the stools (see left) the crowd were literally lapping up their every note. Dean Gurrie's Wasted Time and Sarah Crummy's Witchy Woman were two other audience favourites from this entertaining show.
Theme Night #19 - Elvis at Christmas
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo. 19th and 20th December 2017
We tried something new for Theme Nights 16-18 – new venues (Stephen St. Car Park, Knocknarea Arena), new partners (Sligo GAA, Sligo SummerFest, Sligo Jazz), new musicians involved, even two shows in one night once. And they were great nights, for different reasons, but there’s something about coming home. And that’s how the Hawk’s Well feels to us. And for Theme Night #19, we went back home, and it was magic.
Theme Night #17 - Sports
Knocknarea Arena, Sligo. 24th March 2017
The first theme night to be held in the Knocknarea Arena, this collaboration with Sligo GAA focused on the links between music and sport over the years - no link too tenuous! From the obvious ones such as We Are the Champions and the Chariots of Fire theme, to the Olympic anthems of One Moment in Time and Barcelona, to Abba's Winner Takes it All and the Saw Doctors' To Win Just Once, this night kept the audience on their toes from start to finish.
Theme Night #16 - Stadium Anthems
Stephen St. Carpark, Sligo. 4th August 2016
The first and only (so far) theme night to be held outdoors. Over 4,000 people crammed into the Stephen St. Car Park for the first gig of the 2016 Sligo Summer Festival and enjoyed the setlist of Stadium Anthems. Featuring the most iconic songs from bands such as Queen, ACDC, Bowie and Status Quo, this night was one to remember.
Theme Night #15 - Piano Man
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo. 4th - 6th May 2016
An epic night from start to finish, one which really upped the ante in terms of energy, quality and also production. Featuring the Sligo Academy of Music Sinfionetta, the songbooks of Billy Joel and Elton John were given the full theme night treatment. Many performances from this show have become part of theme night folklore, from the showstopping trad arrangement of She's Always A Woman to Me to Chris Baillie's heartfelt An Innocent Man to Aileen Concannon's haunting version of Yellow Brick Road.
Theme Night #14 - Grand Ole Opry
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo. 20th and 21st January 2016
A Night at the Grand Ole Opry - featuring the best of American Country Music. Like many theme nights, it suits some artists more than others, with some right at home and others a bit out of their comfort zone. The highlight of the night was unquestionable, the raucous fiddle trio of Niamh Crowley, Seamie O'Dowd and Steve Wickham stealing the show with their version of the bluegrass standard Orange Blossom Special.
Theme Night #13 - Film Music
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo. 13th and 14th May 2015
The first ever Theme Night in the Hawk's Well Theatre. It was the brainchild of theatre director Marie O'Byrne - she suggested bringing the theme nights to the Hawk's Well, to team up with the Sligo Academy of Music Sinfionetta and also to form a Theme Night Choir. We took her up on all 3 suggestions, and the rest is history. The setlist for this night was incredible - from Ennio Morricone to Quincy Jones, from Toy Story to Forrest Gump - it had everything.
Theme Night #12 - Motown
The Velvet Rooms, Sligo. 12th February 2015
The last of 4 theme nights in the Velvet Rooms, this was certainly a special one. A three-piece horn section really added to the occasion, and it was a killer setlist from one of the iconic eras of music. From Stevie Wonder to The Temptations, from Marvin Gaye to The Jackson 5, this night had it all.
Theme Night #11 - The Best of Irish
The Velvet Rooms, Sligo. 23rd October 2014
Theme Night #11 took place in what was then called The Velvet Rooms in October 2014 and was entitled ‘The Best of Irish’. I remember it well. Tabby Callaghan on only his second Theme Night blew us all away with his rendition of Joe Dolan’s Good Lookin’ Woman; Joe Hunt brought the house down with a haunting version of U2’s Running to Standstill, and Rackhouse Pilfer surprised us all by covering Elvis ‘n’ Spiders – a hit that Joe’s band Indian had in the 1990s.
Theme Night #10 - The Music of Burt Bacharach
The Velvet Rooms, Sligo. 12th June 2014
This was one of the 4 theme nights that took place in The Velvet Rooms – Source had closed, and anyway this venue could cater for bigger numbers, which suited us now that the nights were attracting larger audiences. I had never heard Painted With Memory before this night, and Joe Hunt sang it so well that I have never forgotten it since. Georgie Gorman sang Arthur’s Theme (a collaboration between Christopher Cross, Burt Bacharach and some others) and blew it out of the water, and I’ll always remember Laura May Lenehan’s presence and soul on What the World Needs Now.