The Screaming Orphans rock St. Patrick’s Day Irish hooley at Proctors
The Screaming Orphans rock St. Patrick’s Day Irish hooley at Proctors
Irish sibling band kicks off Life in a Carnival tour at GE Theatre
2 p.m. Saturday, March 16
SCHENECTADY, N.Y.—MARCH 6, 2019—What the hooley!
County Donegal’s critically-acclaimed festival favorites The Screaming Orphans step into Proctors, 2 p.m. Saturday, March 16 for a raging St. Patrick’s Day weekend Irish hooley.
What’s a hooley, you ask?
It’s an amazing all-day Hibernian hoedown filled with music and dance, and it’s what Screaming Orphans do best. Mix in special guests (including dancers, pipers and Celtic musicians), kids activities, and food, beer and spirits available for purchase, and you’ve got a St. Patrick’s party for the ages.
The band, composed of four sisters—daughters of popular ceilidh singer Kathleen Fitzgerald—grew up playing Irish traditional music at home before busting out as a popular pop rock outfit in their teens. The group, boldly blending styles, has matured into a powerhouse unit that can rock and reel.
At Proctors, the quartet will turn its hooley into a release party as well, following the Friday, March 15 drop of Life in a Carnival, a new collection highlighted by a fiddle-driven, harmony-drenched take of The Turtles’ 1967 classic “Happy Together.”
The disc is a follow-up to 2017’s folk-oriented Taproom, which was recorded stateside and landed at number one on the iTunes World Music chart; made the Top 10 Billboard World Music chart; and was named 2017 Folk/Pop/Rock Album of the Year by Folk N’ Rock magazine.
Hailing from the seaside resort town of Bundoran, the Diver sisters (bassist/violinist
Angela; drummer Joan; keyboardist/accordionist Marie Thérèse and guitarist Gráinne) have recorded and performed with the likes of Peter Gabriel, Joni Mitchell, Baaba Mal and The Chieftains.
Following a 1997 St. Brigid’s Day performance in Kildare, alongside Celtic giants Christy Moore and Liam O’Maonlai, the young sisters were invited to travel as Sinead O’Connor’s backing singers and support act for the controversial star’s Gospel Oak tour.
With past performances at Irish 2000 Festival and Freedom Park, the Orphans have built a strong local following in both the Capital Region’s Irish and rock communities. The sisters’ hooley at Proctors is sure to please fans old and new.
Tickets, $25; $5 Kids 17 & under (not available online), for Irish Hooley with The Screaming Orphans at the GE Theatre at Proctors, 2 p.m. Saturday, March 16, are available at the Box Office at Proctors, 432 State Street, Schenectady; by phone at 518.346.6204; and online at proctors.org.
###