I was a bad blogger this past weekend, neglecting my duties due to a busy schedule that involved working the entirety of the Winter Celtic Classic at the Stabler Arena for RCN, among other things. If you didn't go, but have frequented the Celtic Classics that come to Bethlehem every September, you missed a more compact version that didn't quite capture the true romance of the parent festival, but was still quite entertaining and introduced me to at least one band I'll try and see in the future... that is, when I can stand to hear the shrill sound of a bagpipe again.

It was the Glengarry Bhoys that completely knocked me out; they played both Friday and Saturday (when they closed the festival). I was on-stage filming them on Friday, however, when they had come on after a couple of rather uneventful groups. Their electricity was immediate, powerful and transforming, as what had been a pretty dull start to the Winter Classic suddenly became the rowdier, rollicking atmosphere most associate with any festival celebrating the Irish and Scottish. A five-piece group from Ontario, Canada, the Bhoys went flawlessly through a set where the slower songs were just as intense as the fast ones and there was no time to be drowsy, unlike many of the other groups that played during the weekend (one particular group was introduced as "the best Celtic band ever," but I found myself almost asleep at my camera halfway through their set... do I just not get it?). It also helped that the Glengarry Bhoys have at least a couple distinct personalities in bagpiper Ewan Brown, who looks and parties like a frat boy but is damn talented, and fiddler Miranda Mulholland, the uber-talented girl among bhoys. Like that hasn't been written about her 438 times before.

The Bhoys will be back for the actual Celtic Classic in September, but before then will be in Reading in April, at Jack Frost in Blakeslee in May and Jim Thorpe in June. See them if you like or have ever liked the sound of bagpipes amongst a rockin' groove.

As for the Winter Classic, I do think it will be back next year despite a bit of a poor showing on Friday not helped by snowy conditions. Nothing quite replaces the feel of the fall Celtic Fest, however, as the music and the highland atmosphere just seem to work perfectly with the onset of fall and the slight chill in the air. The Winter Classic, on the other hand, was too low-key but not a bad escape from the brutal chill in the air out there now.

-Ryan