Concert Review:
The Bilge Pumps

by Mike Orren

The missus and I opted for some thoroughly retro entertainment last night, starting with Shakespeare Dallas' thoroughly enjoyable production of Much Ado About Nothing -- featuring our own Shawn Parikh in the role of Claudio.

Not wanting to return to our own century too quickly, we swung by The Tipperary Inn to catch sea-shanty pirate band The Bilge Pumps' final set of the evening.

The band, dressed in full pirate regalia, sings traditional Celtic songs and shantys with a heavy dose of vaudevillian humor. The first number we caught as we grabbed a couple Harps from the bar involved making up verses about the hometowns of people in the crowd. It had a very "Who's Line is it Anyway" vibe, as did another number where an audience member was brought to sit up on a stool while the band performed a less-than-flattering song about his character.

Instrumentation was minimal, generally a bongo and a guitar, although there was good use of a steel drum in a revised version of "The Banana Boat Song." The five-piece band ranging in age from mid-twenties to, um, much older, was in a jovial mood throughout the show and wasn't afraid to add snippets of modern covers to their folk songs whenever they felt like it.

This is first and foremost a party band. They come across like the guys from a university a capella group, with a pirate theme thrown in for novelty. Maybe not the band you're going to buy tickets to see at the Bass Hall, but a guaranteed fun time out, especially with liberal rations of ale on the side.