The Saw Doctors review: Fans in Cork got everything they came for and more
The Saw Doctors giving it welly onstage in Musgrave Park (Virgin Media Park) on Saturday. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
Rain, you say? What rain? It was biblical on and off all day and then it turns Balearic just in time for a blistering show from The Saw Doctors in Virgin Media Park (Musgrave Park).
Earlier in the afternoon, who’d have bet on the sun gods smiling down on us? Not a drop.
All we saw was a thunderstorm of emotion for The Saw Doctors from a stadium full of fans who got everything they came for and more.
"It’s great to be back in Cork — it’s been too long,” says Leo Moran. “When they asked us to play, we said we’d do it as long as we could have Damien Dempsey here with us. He’s celebrating a big birthday this week.”
The whole crowd sings ' ’.
And we’re off, with gems like ‘Tommy K’ and ‘To Win Just Once’.
They kick off at 8.30pm sharp and we’re bouncing from the get-go.
There's a chaotic joy to a Saturday night Saw Docs gig that's really only comparable to, say, a singalong soiree with a mega-hit band like The Pet Shop Boys. Unlikely bedfellows perhaps, but these two acts have a pair of powerful weapons in common.
They both have around 18 chart-topping hits, coupled with a dedicated army of devotees who love nothing better than an excuse to reach deep into the closet for their most colourful carnival costumes, fizzing up a Rio vibe that explodes like a musical rainbow.
"We came down to Cork last night to get tuned in," says Leo.
"So we had a couple of pints in The Castle Inn. We’ll have to warn ye about the snuff. Don’t do too much of it. It’s very addictive stuff altogether.”
In the Mecca of rugby that is Musgrave Park, it seems more than a little rock 'n' roll for the Saw Docs fans, many decked out in GAA shirts, singing along to hits like ‘What Do Ya Think A That?’ and 'The Green and Red of Mayo'.
The emotional fires are also stoked up by the enduring bond between joint lead singers Davy Carton and Leo Moran.
It’s unusual in a touring band to have two people steering the bus, but these lads never once skid off track.
The Saw Docs have seen their share of lineup changes over the years, but this enduring pair of schoolmates have a Springer-O'Gara rapport that quietly weaves its way through the evening, inspiring a bonhomie that unites the ramshackle and the regal, the Primark and the Canterbury, for a night of bonding as heartwarming as a WWI Christmas ceasefire in the trenches.
They played a bagful of hits.
With the classics 'I Useta Love Her', 'N17' and 'Red Cortina', along with gems like 'Joyce Country Ceili Band', ‘Clare Island’ and 'Howya Julia', our voices were literally gone from singing along.
The set finished at a little after 10pm.
Not one person headed for the gate. Encores galore, rolling on towards 10:30pm when the first droplets of rain threaten to spit, but just about mind their manners.
And, they even cover ‘After All’ by the Cork legends Frank & Walters. What more could you want? Tonight the Gods are from Tuam.
Joyfully exhausted, elated, thankfully we have the Sunday off to squeeze out our shirts (thankfully and surprisingly, not our socks), plenty of time to get ready for a fresh dose of reality, with a jukebox of West Coast coolness rattling around in what remains of our sobering minds.
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