Stoker’s Lodge

I did myself a real favour on Friday night…drove down to the Sirius Art Centre in Cobh and listened to the great Stoker’s Lodge for a couple of hours. For those of you not familiar, they are a folk band from the seventies, who are undeniably Cork, and a national treasure. They are a band with a repertoire of street ballads and attitude…..the attitude being decidedly ‘it will be alright on the night and we’ll have the craic’. Take it from me it works like a charm. Jimmy Crowley is the vocalist and MC. His delivery is perfect and the audience are rightly charmed. What a night! This band should be a permanent fixture of every Folk Festival programme in the country….this is the real deal.
However, talented as the boys are, it’s the songs are the real stars. The repertoire is packed with gems like Johnny Jump Up, Salonika, The Boys of Fairhill, etc..the songs in turn are packed with witty lines…….laughs and good vibes in abundance. I had never seen Stoker’s Lodge live, but soldiered with Jimmy in the eighties. Great to see ye guys again…may the gigs increase and the fair hill rise with ye, M.