Reunited Planxty impressive on DVD

In an extended interview for "Live 2004," a new concert DVD by the reunited original quartet of Planxty for Columbia/Sony Music UK Ltd., Christy Moore says, "The music has not aged, but we have."

Don't believe him. If anything, this DVD proves that Planxty's music has not aged and that Planxty, in the vibrancy of its performance here, has also blotted out the passage of time. Wrinkles, graying or thinning hair, and reading glasses (Moore's) are just the outer trappings of a group who still exhibit youthful exuberance in their music making and revel in the rejuvenating craic on stage.

Planxty's lineup of three Kildare men -- Christy Moore, Dónal Lunny, Liam O'Flynn -- and London-born Andy Irvine represents one of the most potent and influential bands in Irish traditional music history. Their reunion after two decades took the form of a dozen concerts in January and February of this year. The first two were held at Glór Irish Music Centre in Ennis, Co. Clare, and the other 10 took place at Vicar Street in Dublin. The performance shown in "Live 2004" comes from the Vicar Street run in February.

Opening the DVD are some delicate bouzouki playing by Irvine and Lunny and a light wash of electric keyboards from Moore behind O'Flynn's agile tin whistle playing of "The Glens of Aherlow." Then the bouzoukis tantalize the sold-out house with a brief bridge into the next tune, "The Pullet," played with gusto by O'Flynn on uilleann pipes to a rising cheer from the audience.
The stage, initially lit in blue, has been set. Planxty is back, and so is the crowd. Among the fresh faces is singer-actress Maria Doyle Kennedy of "The Commitments" fame, who admitted on camera that Irish traditional music was never a part of her upbringing and that this night was the first time she'd seen Planxty perform. Even Christy Moore remarked on stage that it was the first time for the quartet's children to see the band in action.

Prelude to reunion

Despite what the media in Ireland have asserted, the first real public tease for what would be a full-blown Planxty reunion in early 2004 occurred not in the rehearsals or low-key concert the quartet gave at the Royal Spa Hotel in Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare, in October 2003. Instead, it took place in October and November 2002 during a series of six TV programs broadcast on RTÉ by Paul Brady, who in 1974 had replaced Moore in Planxty. Brady invited Irvine, O'Flynn, and Lunny, plus fiddler Paddy Glackin, to perform "Mary and the Soldier" and some other selections with him. Though not the original lineup, it was still four Planxty members on the same stage at the same time. And it was thrilling.

A more immediate spur to the reunion was a documentary on Planxty by Leagues O'Toole that aired last year as part of RTÉ 2's "No Disco" series. Band members saw O'Toole's documentary and were moved by the vintage footage of them and the praise they received in it.

Planxty itself emerged out of Moore's second solo album, "Prosperous," released in 1972. Three of the six backup musicians for Moore on the recording were Irvine, Lunny, and O'Flynn. That founding lineup of Planxty lasted until 1973, when Lunny left and was replaced by Johnny Moynihan, Irvine's former bandmate in Sweeney's Men. The band closed the first chapter of its existence two years later.

The second chapter of Planxty began with, fittingly enough, "After the Break," a 1979 album featuring all four original members, along with former Bothy Band and current Chieftains flutist Matt Molloy. This reunited Planxty, with or without Molloy and graced on occasion by such other talents as fiddler James Kelly and "Riverdance" keyboardist Bill Whelan, gave their final public performance in 1983.

Twenty-one years later, the Fab Four of Irish traditional music were sitting on stage again and sounding every bit as good as they did back then.

Renewed vigor at Vicar Street

The first song performed in the "Live 2004" DVD is a perennial crowd-pleaser for Planxty: "The Good Ship Kangaroo," learned from the singing of Macroom, co. Cork's Elizabeth Cronin. The quartet slip into the song with glovelike ease, and Moore's lead vocal negotiates the lyric's colorful cataloging ("I brought tortoises from Tenerife and toys from Timbuktu / A China rat, a Bengal cat, and a Bombay cockatoo") with gleeful aplomb.
Dubbed "Storm in a T-shirt," Moore has fashioned a successful solo career in Ireland that relies on many of the attributes he honed during his days in Planxty. His wit ("we'll be four whippets at the end," he said, sweat streaming down his face), ability to get inside a song, and physical command of a room can all be seen at work within the context of this band. Yet he doesn't overstep himself here. Moore understands that the three musicians beside him have standards as high as his, so he caresses the meaning from such songs as "The Cliffs of Dooneen" and the 9-minute-plus "Little Musgrave" while his bandmates give him impeccable support.
The other compelling vocalist in Planxty is Irvine, and he sings "The Blacksmith" with steely intensity. "Black Smithereens," the tune that follows it, has a modified Balkan rhythm in 5/8 time that O'Flynn tackles flawlessly on uilleann pipes. This Eastern European flavor in Planxty comes courtesy of Irvine, who hitchhiked and busked in the Balkans for 18 months during the late 1960s.
"Arthur McBride" is another lively lead vocal delivered by Irvine. He had recorded this anti-recruiting song on Planxty's debut album in 1972, which means he had put his vocal stamp on it before Paul Brady did. On screen, Lunny cheekily prods Irvine to start singing the song, and Irvine, feigning a yawn, tells Lunny he's been ready and has been waiting on him. The faux-tiff prompts Christy Moore to say, "This is why bands break up," garnering a laugh from the audience.

As he did in the Bothy Band, Lunny provides much of the propulsion in Planxty, playing bouzouki and guitar with a mix of strong, bold rhythm and tasty percussion. But he can also pull back and lay down more ruminative, beautifully attenuated lines, which he does on bouzouki behind Irvine's haunting vocal in "The West Coast of Clare."

The inspiration for that classic song from Irvine was the last performance he gave with Sweeney's Men. It took place in May 1968 in Quilty, near Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare, and the swirl of emotions and memories stirred within Irvine is almost tactile in his lyrics. Moore called it "one of my favorite songs of all time," and, abetted by Lunny's delicate touch on bouzouki, it never fails to penetrate the toughest hide of any listener's composure.

Probably the single greatest reminder coming out of this DVD is just how brilliant an uilleann piper Liam O'Flynn is. He's always been celebrated for the full, round, clean notes he wrings from his chanter and regulator, but there have been moments in the past when he seemed to lapse into clinical detachment.

In his Vicar Street performance, this native of Kill pushes passion to the forefront, and the blend of great skill and deep-dwelling emotion with no trace of sentimentality is nothing less than wondrous. His playing of "Jenny's Wedding/The Virginia/Garrett Barry's" reels is riveting, something the crowd recognizes too, as the medley ends in tumultuous applause. O'Flynn's regulator work in "The Dark Slender Boy," a slow air solo he dedicates to the late Kerry accordionist Johnny O'Leary, is a thing of beauty, and his whistle work comes across crisply in "The Clare Jig/Nora Criona" medley. Planxty, perhaps best-known for its imaginative arrangements of songs, packs a not-so-secret weapon in ace instrumentalist Liam O'Flynn.
The Vicar Street concert ends at the beginning: "Raggle Taggle Gypsy/Tabhair Dom Do Lámh," the opening track of Planxty's 1972 album debut. Christy Moore sings the song with the spirit and heart he's known for, and the transition into 17th-century Derry harper Rory Dall Ó Catháin's melody, translating as "Give Me Your Hand," elicits a shudder of excitement from the audience.

Extra features

The DVD offers three bonus concert tracks: "My Heart is Tonight in Ireland," "Only Our Rivers Run Free," and "O'Dwyer of the Glen." There are also extended interviews with all the band members.

My technical complaints about the DVD are uneven stage lighting (Moore and the dark shirt he's wearing often get lost in a dark background) and poor camera work at medium and distant range (band members become blurs).

My bigger complaint involves one of the extra features. The documentary "Planxty Reformed" is little more than a parade of talking heads -- Terry Connaughton, Des Kelly, David Hammond, Treasa Ní Cheannabháin, Marian Richardson, Gerry Godley -- spitting out inanities like watermelon seeds. Only the archival film footage of Planxty makes this documentary tolerable. It's a pity the far superior documentary aired on RTÉ 2 by Leagues O'Toole, another talking head on this DVD, wasn't included instead.

But when the DVD focuses on the glorious, ageless music performed by a reunited Planxty, such complaints vanish. History was made and remade that night, and "Live 2004" will allow you to experience much of it vicariously.

On camera, Christy Moore promised that "the Planxty rhythm will beat again." Let's hope it will soon beat stateside.

By Earle Hitchner