The largest crowds seen on Gorey’s Main Street for many a long day were in carnival mood last Saturday night as Crystal Swing belted out such memorable standard tunes as ‘Galway Girl’, ‘The Wild Rover’, and the band’s biggest hit that has a catchy line that says “He drinks tequilla, she talks dirty in Spanish,” before an estimated attendance of upwards of 7,000 people.

While Jerry Fish on Sunday night was billed as the headline act of the festival, it was always envisaged that Saturday night would be the most favourable in drawing big numbers, which is the yardstick by which free open air performances are measured, rightly or wrongly!

The evening was overcast as the Barley Mob – a 6 piece band playing a fresh blend of uplifting music– set the scene for an evening of memorable occasion.

Along came Crystal Swing and for most of the performance everybody was having a great time – dancing in the street, waving in unison, it was a street party in full swing, when the heavens opened shortly before 11 pm.

Surprisingly, instead of running for cover, a huge chunk of the audience stood their ground to hear the band finish their energy filled session – a classic case of swinging in the rain!

Having heard Crystal Swing perform live a few times, including a performance at the National Ploughing Championships at Ballinboola last September, I have no difficulty in confessing that they upped their standard considerably for the Gorey gig which was vibrant and lively and clearly there was an appreciative audience.

Sunday night with Jerry Fish was successful too – he failed to match the Crystal Swing attendance figure by about 1,000 – and unfortunately the weather pattern of the previous night returned with a downpour during the  final performance.

Full story in THE GOREY ECHO.