A fantastic Celtic-based rock 'n roll band, their live concerts bring unrivaled spirit and energy to rock your world, Celtic-style.
Seamlessly blending their rock and Celtic influences into a high energy, anthemic and lyrically poignant mix.
The band jumps energetically from ballad to barn burner, documenting as they go the vibrant yet chaotic world they find themselves in.
Building a fervent fan base comparable to that of jam band rockers like Phish and Dave Matthews Band, The Young Dubliners have over the years become notorious for the whirling jig pits that erupt at their live shows. Keith Roberts and Paul OToole first met on L.A.'s vibrant pub scene circa late 80s at a time when Roberts was composing some Irish ballads and thought casually about assembling a rag-tag team of fellow Irish transplants and like-minded American rockers. From their humble beginnings at the Irish Rover, the band evolved through various personnel changes into a pugnacious, crazy but coolly irresistible force of nature that eventually made its way into the studio to record their debut EP Rocky Road.
By 2000, the band had morphed into a septet without OToole, and upon releasing the critically acclaimed Red became an international sensation. Actor Gabriel Byrne hired the band to write the theme song for his television show Madigan Men and they spent much of 2001 touring Europe with Jethro Tull and the U.S. as headliners and as openers John Hiatt and Robert Cray. The Young Dubliners were also plucked to rev up the crowds at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. That same year, the band, with the return of Waltz (who had left in 1995), the Dubs scaled back down to a five-piece, launching a period of renewed creative vigor.
After participating in a number of headlining and co-headlining US tours (Johnny Lang, Collective Soul, Great Big Sea, and others, the quintet settled down to record Real World - an album influenced by their predecessors (Waterboys/Pogues/U2/Big Country) and most importantly, life on the road. During the interlude between Absolutely and Real World came an event which drew the band in. Roberts underwent a throat surgery which required months of vocal cord rehabilitation. Reflecting on that time, he says, "My surgery made us all aware of how close we came to losing it all. Our determination to succeed is even stronger than before." The raw live energy of their next project With All Due Respect, The Irish Sessions, was a unique and inspiring way to fill their audience in on the great writers and poets whose legacy the Young Dubliners are, album by album and show by show, boldly carrying on today.
"Even with all the touring we do, the thing that keeps us going is the one thing that never gets old," says Roberts. "And thats playing those older songs people love and then mixing in a new song and hearing a positive, excited reaction from the crowd for the first time. Weve had our share of tough gigs too, but all it takes is that one great show, those perfect moments of band and audience communication, to appreciate what were doing up there and why. Its all about the joy of performing, watching the people dance and hearing them sing along."
