Octoberfest, Enter the Haggis and Pipe Humor

Hidely ho neighborinos! (shut up Flanders...)

This has been a MOST Interesting week! I've got all sorts of news to post.

First, the beer: I'm currently enjoying a Sam Adams Octoberfest. Dark amber almost honey colored hue, great head (giggidy) and even though I gave it a sloppy pour, it looked like a beer commercial sitting in my Family guy "Hooray for beer" pint glass. To answer your question, yes, this is my finest piece of glassware second only to my Sam Adams bulb glasses. Truly Malty nose and a very light hop to it. I can't place the type of hop, but it's more sweet than bitter. The beer itself has a midrange mouthfeel, not overwhelmingly thick but not all that watery either. In all, this is a great beer! I'd pair this with something particularly German, Sauerkraut and a big salty pretzel to match the sweetness of the beer, this would go great with sausage and pork knuckle. No doubt, this was brewed specifically for Harvest festival season. Bottom line, DELICIOUS. I would suggest grabbing this as part of the Sam's Fall Brewers pack. The rest of the beers were fairly decent and in particular, the Irish Red might have been a bit better had I paired it with something, the Kent Golding hops gave it a bitterness that seemed a bit unbalanced on its own. Either way, a good purchase!

Second: THE PIPES ARE HERE!! Thanks you U.S.Customs for your expedient processing of my bagpipes. I pick them up on Sunday and by Tuesday afternoon, I'll have passed out from trying to play them! I'm buying it without the chanter (the musically dynamic part of the bagpipe) or the bag cover as both are provided by the band, we'll see how those go. I'm pretty gassed!! Although I may not be gassed or full of any air at all over the next week!

Third: Piping Humor... During the last few weeks, I've been chuckling at a few things I've heard during piping practice and of course during the purchase of my bagpipes. Like a teenager, I can't help but be amused by double entente, for example in Guitar, I always get a chortle when someone breaks their "G" String... so here we go... my top 3 sayings that have tossed me a yuck over the last few weeks.

3. "You need to get up under the bag and hold it tight" - Easily the most disturbing statement of the day!
2. "We'll fit you for a 10 inch blowstick" - Said during the fitting of my pipes.
1. "You need to blow out your "A" hole." - Said by my piping instructor during practice... by the time he said it, it was too damned late.


Fourth, Final and most important: ENTER THE HAGGIS!! I'm REALLY excited for this one. Over the last few days, I've been in touch with one of Canada's greatest bands since RUSH (too much? Sure, I went there...). Enter the Haggis is a phenomenal Celtic rock band and I am proud to call myself a "Haggis-head"! Their publicist contacted the pipe band to offer us a spot on the guest list for the show in Norfolk, Connecticut. Not living anywhere near there but living MUCH closer to the Center for the Arts in Natick (aka TCAN), I requested a few spots on the guest list for the more local show. Surprisingly, they acquiesced! As a show of my appreciation, I offered to help them out with their promotional material. Today, they sent me cards, posters and other assorted materials which I'll be distributing throughout the area tomorrow. A nice surprise with my packet was a copy of their new album, "Gutter Anthems"! Thanks boys! Like their previous albums, "Casualties of Retail" (a personal fave of mine) and "Soapbox Heroes", this is a tribute to traditional Celtic music and brings with it ETH's energetic modern twist to what is a noble musical history. No, not every Irish tune is about drinking... just the ones that are the most fun to "Dance" to! I'd attach a link to my wedding videos as an example of TRUE traditional Irish dance. That is of course, if my horrific pasty full body heave and those of my family weren't so god awful... Frankly, 'tis why I play music, just so I don't have to dance! But I digress.

Track 2, the "Little and the Leaves" is one of the best songs of the album. A little punk, a little rock and with a great hook, it's got a ton of punch to it. "Did you call me albatross?" is their most traditional sounding track and I think I like it for the fact that unlike some of their counterparts in the Celt-Rock community, they've not abandoned their roots. Good to show the trad chops now and again.

I have to say, there are two things I noticed on my third and forth listen through the album. (I only received this thing like 4 hours ago, it's THAT good). The keyboard work is for the most part phenomenal throughout the album but particularly on the Intro track with it's beautiful pairing of church organ and the Great Highland Pipes and on "Noseworthy and Piercy". Second, as a vocalist and a former Chamber Singer, the harmonies are remarkable! Rare is it that you actually have 4 distinct male vocal parts outside of the boy band or the old guy barber shop quartet circuits. To have a true Bass part like the one thrown down by Craig Downey is even more impressive. It sounds like they have both the Bass, Baritone as well as Tenor 1 & 2 laced throughout their vocal tracks. It adds a richness to an already full sounding arrangement.

Now, I may be a bit biased, but Celt rock is some of the most bad-ass sounding stuff on earth. You take traditional Celtic music filled with raw emotion; anger, pain & sadness and couple it drum work; pounding pulsating war-like beats, throw in wild pipe and fiddle accompaniments and then toss it in the blender with all that is rock and you can't help but want to just break something! The tracks "The death of Johnny Mooring" and "Murphy's Ashes" are perfect examples of what I've described. "Murphy's ashes" is reminiscent of one of my favorite Haggis tunes, "Congress". Traditional feel, modern twist.

ETH's slower songs could be the usual balladey crapola, but lyrically, they're beautiful, matched with Brian Buchanan's keyboard work, they become masterpieces. "Broken Line" in particular is awfully moving. I've come to realize as I reread this that perhaps I'm gushing a bit, but this really is an extraordinary band and an album to match. While I've only listened to them really on YouTube and on my "Chieftains" Pandora Station, I'm looking forward to picking up their other albums as what I've heard so far I've liked VERY much.

Gents, I'm looking forward to seeing you in Natick, MA on the 21st! Thanks in advance for what should be a GREAT time!!

-Rob Anderson


ENTER THE HAGGIS:
LIVE at THE NATICK CENTER FOR THE ARTS
NOVEMBER 21st, 8:00 PM
Buy your tickets TODAY!!
http://www.natickarts.org/tcan_artistdetail.php?artist_id=1367&event_id=1367

Or Visit them on the web:
http://www.enterthehaggis.com/