The famous Irish duo David Munnelly (accordion) and Shane McGowan (guitar and vocals) are touring the Netherlands. We have now experienced that in Scheveningen. It was a special evening in Casa Bruti on the Haarlemsestraat, where we were able to enjoy the fiery playing of this couple with our accordion group from The Hague after the pasta dinner.
The performance Casa Bruti in Scheveningen by the Irish David Munnelly (on an Irish-tuned Castagnari) and his compatriot Shane McGowan (guitar and vocals) could not be missed by our Hague accordion group.
So we braved the cold mist on ‘Blue maandag’ for a warm welcome by Sandro Bruti. This Scheveningen native with Italian roots combines a love of music and gastronomy with a fascination for Ireland. He organizes small-scale concerts in a former hotel. After an Italian meal, the duo Munnelly/McGowan went wild with rousing Irish jigs and reels, alternating with sensitive ballads.
It was noticed in our group that David mainly uses the inner row of his two-and-a-half-rower. That is not illogical: it concerns an Irish tuning: C# on the outer row and D on the inner row: the D is therefore the base and the outer row is used for the half tones. On the inner row are four notes that David has placed on request.
A striking feature of Munnelly's playing is the vibrating basses, and the Irish custom of stomping a leg vigorously to make the glassware on the tables vibrate to the rhythm. The ballads sung by McGowan were delightfully 'sad', which of course was completely appropriate for this blue maandag!
The Italian wine and limoncello flowed freely, so that some could not resist stomping along vigorously in Irish style!