One could argue that an Irish musician's gift is squeezing so much movement through an instrument that you just have to get up and dance, whether or not you know how. And Solas has it, making the entire packed house at their February 18th performance lean toward the Performing Arts Center's non-existent dance floor and palpably will it into existence.
Some musicians manage to stay fairly still while their instruments rattle the bones of those around them, but the members of Solas gave themselves away: They obviously love what they do. Winifred Horan engaged in an energetic back-and-forth battle with her violin all night long, Seamus Egan's head bobbed and rolled as he bent over his banjo and guitar, and it looked as though Mick McAuley might topple off his stool a time or two as he worked the accordion.
Eamon McElholm was the most stoic of the lot, playing his guitar instead of battling it for most of the night. But even if he didn't kick up his heels much, his energetic grin and agile playing betrayed him. And vocalist Mairead Phelan marked the night not just with her clear, powerful delivery but the ability to rock out on a supposedly non-rockable instrument, the viola.
The only thing missing was a dance or two. Although the band sat slightly off-center on stage, the hopeful empty space to their right was never graced with moving feet. Not that the music was lacking in any way--but if the audience couldn't dance on their own, dancing by proxy would have been the next best thing.
The sound production was initially a little uneven, making a lovely air from Egan and McAuley, on flutes and keyboard respectively, sound boggy and heavier than it should have. But the sound tightened up nicely as the other band members came on stage and the group ripped into a set of so-called "Wiggly Jigs." And another air in the second half of the show, accompanied by the until-then inexplicable grand piano lurking behind the band, more than redeemed that form of music.
If good music is the soundtrack that creates a movie in your head, Solas is Oscar material. Their ability to pull threads of other music styles--folk, bluegrass, country, jazz and more--into traditional Irish music inspires a range of surprising combinations, but at the root of it they remain Irish and Irish-American musicians that yank so hard on your feet and your heart that you just can't sit still.
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