The first time I saw the The Saw Doctors is a little bit lost in the mists of time. It was probably around 1996; I have the feeling they were at Glasgow’s annual Celtic Connections festival that year and when I said “The Saw who?” my friends made outraged noises and took steps to address my ignorance.
What I do remember is combing the racks in Tower Records to find their CD – under rock, not “traditional” or “world”, because they were and are a rock band – and the second time I saw them, a wild evening a a club in DC called the Black Cat, which for me ended in leaving while the pit was still jumping in order to make a mad dash down 14th street and get on the train before the Metro shut for the evening.
This past Saturday night at Irving Plaza, though, I was able to stay until the joyful end.
I don’t really have any complicated thoughts here. Iridesense (sic) were the openers; in my estimation they got all the way to “not a terrible way to spend half an hour”, but did not really turn my crank.
When they were finished, The Saw Doctors came out and rocked it, and the room sang along at the top of their (our) lungs. They played pretty much all of my favorites – to the point that typing them all out would basically be recreating the set list – but special highlights were a sweeping, soaring Clare Island, a fancy doo-wop version of Red Cortina, and a raucous Hay Wrap.
That last one was especially sweet, partially because they seamlessly meshed a verse or two of Blitzkreig Bop into the middle, and partially because they did a short Monkees walk towards the end.
Without further waffle, here are some pictures from the show:
Davy Carton (left) putting the “K” in Tommy K, with Leo Moran (right).
Davy Carton again, with Kevin Duffy on keys in the background.
Leo Moran, this time without a mic in his face!
Leo Moran getting ready to start Clare Island.
Y’all, Clare Island is just such a beautiful song. I really do listen to it practically every day. If I could persuade you to buy just one Saw Doctors song, it would be that one. If I could talk you into two, or maybe three, I’d add N17 and Useta Love Her, or, if you have need of an anniversary song, Still the Only One.
Though really I think you should just get a-hold of as many of their records as you can, because all of their songs are good.
Anyway. Back to the pictures!
And also to Clare Island, with a shot of Anthony Thistlethwaite’s saxophone solo.
The whole band during the doo-wop Red Cortina.
Rickie O’Neill their (new!) drummer and Anthony Thistlethwaite during Red Cortina.
And in conclusion, Kevin Duffy when he came out to play guitar during Hay Wrap.
