PHOTOS
Dustin Drevitch
At about 7 p.m. on Tuesday as I arrived at the Saw Doctors show and pulled into my usual "Scranton concert" parking space in the parking garage adjacent to the Scranton Cultural Center, I noticed the lot was a lot emptier than it had been for past shows. And from my past experiences, an empty show usually means a less than stellar show.
Thankfully, this time, that was not the case.
The Saw Doctors, one of Ireland's most beloved and best-selling groups, brought the annual St. Patrick's Day festivities to an early start this year and showed it's not the quantity of people at a show that makes it enjoyable, but the connection the fans and band have with one another.
Local Irishman Charlie Bagnall opened the show with a set of acoustic numbers to get the green clothed, relatively older, upper-class crowd ready to go for the headlining act, just as a great opener should.
With a few hundred people in attendance, the minimal crowd could care less about the spacious concert hall (seats over 1,000), which more or less became a large pub with alcohol flowing and hot dogs, popcorn, and nachos being served.
Bagnall closed with a sing-along version of the Irish classic, "Whiskey in the Jar," (which younger attendees would know from Thin Lizzy or Metallica fame).
As I walked around the venue watching those in attendance drinking and conversing, I had an idea of what a typical Saw Doctors show would entail and what the purpose would be - having a damn good time and nothing else.
At 8 p.m., the Saw Doctors hit the stage dressed in black and ready to attack. From the first note you could tell the real fans from those who were simply just there for a good time. The diehards sang along, waved their hands, jumped up and down and acted like they were teenagers all over again. And isn't that what music is all about?
With crystal clear sound, the Saw Doctors ripped through a two-hour set, which included seven encores. The upbeat crowd was attentive the whole time. The band had solid musicianship and wonderful stage presence. It was tough to tell who was having a better time, the audience or the band members, who were smiling and laughing the whole show.
"I like the Cultural Center here," said co-frontman, Leo Moran. "Very classy."
While Moran sang a few tunes and held down lead guitar duties, co-frontman Davy Carton (who looks like an Irish Darryl Hall) handled most of the singing duties.
The Saw Doctors music is not uber-technical, but the band is solid and plays with feeling and dedication.
The band played favorites such as the fun "Tommy K," which came equipped with interpretive hand motions, and "Chips," with a chorus of "a big bag of chips and a burger to go" that made for a good chuckle.
About an hour and a half into the set, those non-diehard fans began to feel a sense of redundancy. The traditional Irish song structures and beats became monotonous. Seeing the joy in some of the crowd's eyes, however, which obviously hadn't been there in a while, was enough to get us through.
With funny stage antics like switching up instruments, water chugging, Carton wearing a female audience member's jacket, and a quick rendition of the Beastie Boy's, "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)," it was all about entertainment.
As the seventh encore concluded, the nearly empty parking lot was no indication of a bad concert. The crowd had a great time and so did the band, and that's what defines a good show.