Last night we went to see the Irish house Party at the Lansdowne Hotel ; we've had many tourists mention it and recommend it so we decided to check it out for ourselves - and a fabulous night was had by all!
The house party is hosted by real musicians and it's the answer to the plastic-paddy, tiddlyeye nonsense that so many venues seem to think is what tourists want. However as we at Charlie Byrne's get asked every day for "real" and "authentic" traditional music I think there's very much a need for a proper Irish music night. The Irish House Party is the perfect answer, lots of fun but with real music.
There are several different options; you can go for dinner and the show from 7pm (a very nice dinner and we got to know some of our fellow guests over it, so if you want the full experience definitely opt for this!) or you can simply go for the show itself from 8.30pm. If you're a guest of the hotel you get a discount and they also cater for large groups.
The dinner was lovely, everyone was very pleased with themselves and we got to chat to some New Zealanders. Then the show - there are around 11 musicians connected to the Irish House Party , all of whom are top notch. We were blessed last night with uillean pipes, fiddle, tin whistle and bouzouki/guitar (and I can tell you, it takes a lot to impress me but they managed it from the first reel!)
There's plenty of speil, plenty of audience participation, lots of fun and the presentation is very professional without ever seeming either jaded or perfunctory.
If I won the lotto tomorrow I'd hire them to play at my own damn house party :)
They have CDs on sale, I got one for myself and one for the father-in-law who would have loved it. We're planning on going back during the summer and taking the parents; it's over around 10.30 and that makes it ideal for all age gr0ups. The older more sedate visitor can get to bed on time and the younger ones can get out into the Dublin nightlife without missing anything.
All in all - massive thumbs up! We've linked them from the index page of Charlies Website so bookmark them and next time you need to impress the visitors...take them to a house party.
