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Columnists - Columnists: Mike Mooney

Friday, Feb. 29, 2008

Chieftains' fans say less is not more at Gallo performance

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Depending upon your perspective, the pint glass was half full -- or half empty -- when the Chieftains took the stage Saturday night at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto.

Either way, it was a major disappointment for some fans of the Irish super group.

Half the band didn't show up.

For hard-core fans, the absences of flute player Matt Molloy and fiddler Seán Keane left a gaping hole in their hearts, not to mention on the stage of the Mary Stuart Rogers Theater.

Molloy and Keane couldn't be with the band, said a spokesman after the performance, because both men were dealing with "personal family health issues."

Paddy Moloney, Chieftains frontman, made a similar announcement at the outset of the concert.

That didn't appease some in the sell-out crowd, however, who later complained to me they had been sold a false bill of goods.

So, I asked Dave Pier, the Gallo Center's executive director, if he or anyone else had been given advance warning that just half the Chieftains would make the trip to Modesto.

"No, to my knowledge, we didn't receive any advance notice," Pier said in an e-mail. "The Chieftains tour management provided the ... material we printed in the program, which included both Matt (Molloy) and Seán (Keane); so I'm not sure why they were not there.

"We are paying full freight for these groups and ideally should be getting the full group."

So, what happened?

Did the missing Chieftains figure they could take a night off because they were playing Modesto? You know. They figured they could blow us off, because, well, it's JUST Modesto.

After further review, I'm able to discount such speculation.

The Chieftains apparently have been at half strength since their tour began Feb. 18 in Albuquerque, N.M.

Pier, too, did some sleuthing, after The Bee's inquiries, and discovered Molloy and Keane also did not make scheduled appearances in Los Angeles and San Rafael.

Seth Malasky of Opus 3 Artists apologized in an e-mail sent to Pier and his counterpart at the Marin Center in San Rafael.

"Sorry again you both weren't officially told prior to the performance," said the Malasky e-mail, which Pier shared with The Bee. "My understanding is Paddy (Moloney) wanted to make the announcements from the stage.

"So you know -- Matt (Molloy) and Seán (Keane) were unable to come on the tour due to separate personal family health issues. I hope your patrons understand and this hasn't caused too much trouble."

Pier said it was unlikely more specific information would be forthcoming.

Besides, the Chieftains and other major acts have a clause in their contracts, permitting them to make "artistic substitutions" for health reasons or other emergencies, without providing advance notice.

Ticket buyers might want to file that away for future reference.

Even Malasky apparently was unaware that half the group was missing in action, Pier said, until venue directors such as him began calling.

Nor did Moloney, during an telephone interview with The Bee conducted as the tour was about to begin, say anything about Molloy and Keane not traveling with the band.

Despite the snafu, Pier said, he was glad the show wasn't canceled, while adding, "they should have let us know in advance so we could have more clearly communicated to the audience what was going on."

Still, Pier was happy with the overall performance.

"To their credit," he said, "they did present a great show with several guest artists. While their biggest fans were no doubt disappointed, the bulk of the audience seemed to have a great time."

Those are good points.

I, too, attended the show and agree it was first rate.

But it wasn't the Chieftains.

A more accurate billing would have been: "Chieftains Paddy Moloney and Kevin Conneff lead Celtic-Scottish Connection 2008 Tour."

That should have been followed by an announcement stating, unequivocally, that Molloy and Keane wouldn't appear with the group when it visited Modesto.

Chieftains fans deserved at least that much, especially when you consider some forked out as much as $55. They thought they were getting the entire group.

While it's impossible to know whether the Modesto concert would have sold out had word gotten out about the missing Chieftains, Pier said ticket buyers would have been told had he known.

That didn't happen. And some folks feel they have been cheated.

Pier doesn't know, what, if anything, he can do to soothe those hard feelings.

He said he's mulling some "creative" ideas, though no decisions have been made.

In the meantime, he's not ready to slam the group.

"I feel we need to give them the benefit of the doubt on this. They have been at it quite a number of years and have a good reputation for delivering the goods.

"I expect we will be able to get them back again in the future, and I'm sure we would not experience this problem again if we do."

Let's hope not.

Mike Mooney's column appears every Friday in Local News. He can be reached at mmooney@modbee.com or 578-2384.