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ALTAN - at Southsea on MONDAY 15th May - NOT Sunday 15th!!!!!

Re my last, please note that the ALTAN gig at South Parade Pier is in fact  
on MONDAY 15th May, not as a previuosly stated, Sunday 15th!!!! 
Sorry for any inconvenience
 
*The Official Barking Spider News Letter*



Top Irish  traditional band ALTAN - at South Parade Pier in  Southsea  on 
MONDAY May 15th 2006!!!!

No Irish traditional band in the  last dozen years has had a wider impact on  
audiences and music lovers  throughout the world than Altan. With their  
exquisitely produced  award-winning recordings and dynamic live performances, 
 Altan 
have  headlined the BBC'S famous Cambridge Folk Festival and moved  audiences 
 
from Donegal to Tokyo to Seattle.  
Founded in the early eighties by  Belfast flute-player Frankie Kennedy and  
Gweedore singer and fiddler,  Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, they delivered a 
combination  
of old Donegal  fiddle music and unusual Northern Irish flute tunes with a 
force  and  fullness that made it hard to believe there were only two people  
playing.  
In 1984 Frankie and Mairead turned professional, making  trips to the United  
States to play concerts in New York, Minnesota,  Madison, Portland and 
Seattle  
with Derry guitarist, Daithi  Sproule.  
Daithi had played a big part in an earlier wave of  development in the music, 
 
being one of the very first people to adapt  the guitar to old Gaelic songs, 
and  in 1986, Daithi joined Frankie  Kennedy & Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh duo when 
they  grew into Altan,  equalling the other great Irish bands The Bothy Band, 
 
Planxy and De  Danann.  
In succeeding years, the band's albums  all  won  accolades and  awards and 
appeared in the Billboard charts - their  collaborators on these  albums were 
of 
the highest calibre including  Donal Lunny, Brian Masterson and  Steve 
Cooney. 
and the  great  Donegal fiddler, Ciaran Tourish, who  later joined the band 
full  time.  
Altan's other members are the fine bouzouki-player Ciaran  Curran,  who has 
invented his own style on the instrument, whose  playing lies  at the heart 
of 
the Altan sound, together with guitarist  Mark Kelly.  
The final element was added to the sound in the early  nineties -  accordio
n-player Dermot Byrne, another Donegal man weaned  on the music of an  older 
generation of Donegal fiddlers. Dermot's  status as a complete virtuoso had  
been 
secure for many years before he  joined the band.  
In 1991 Altan was dealt a devastating blow, when band  leader and manager,  
Frankie Kennedy was diagnosed with cancer, and  passed away in 1994.  
Altan's international status and success found a  very practical recognition  
when they were signed in 1996 to Virgin  Records, the first Irish band of 
their 
kind to be signed by a major label.  The band gained gold and platinum albums 
in  Ireland, and toured large  venues thoughout the world, with tours in 
Japan,  Australia, New  Zealand and Europe as well as regular successful U.S. 
tours. 

The 2006  Altan tour marks Altan's 20th anniversary - and also marks Altan's  
 
return to South Parade Pier in Southsea, where they played the very  first  
Barking Spider gig in 2000!  
ALTAN appear at South  Parade Pier in Southsea on MONDAY May  15th 2006. 
Doors 
open 8  p.m. Tickets available from Wedgewood Rooms Box Office  (023) 9286  
3911.