On a hot summer evening one might think that a Corona and dip in the pool would be a nice way to cool down, but how 'bout a dark pub followed by some Canadians singing 'bout Winnepeg, ayy?
A short while ago thats just what Bob and I did. We had tix to see one of our favorite bands, The Weakerthans, who only brave the L.A. heat once every couple years. They were playing at the Roxy and since we were going down Fairfax to get to Sunset we couldn't imagine not stopping at Bergin's for a quick pint and bite.
In L.A. there are not a lot of "authentic" Irish bars - most are just fronts for 5'10 blonds to serve you a 'Blarney' burger, which is no different than a regular burger, while wearing tanks with a strategically placed shamrock that accentuates their fake racks.
But, within a few blocks of each other exists, from what I can tell, the two most legit Irish bars in L.A. - aforementioned Tom Bergin's and Molly Molloys.
Bergin's is properly decorated with all wood walls, a nice oval bar and a quaint dining room with white, lace linens. We decided to sit in the dining room because we were feeling classy like that. Before we even sat down we knew that we wanted the corn beef egg rolls served with some mustard that packs a punch. For our main dishes we ordered Bangers n' mash and a turkey club on an English Muffin (I know we might as well have been eating a Blarney Brurger).
The bangers were bangin' and club was was exactly what we were looking for - thick hand-carved turkey, perched perfectly on an English Muffin, adorned with bacon and smothered in cheese.With bellies full of beer and grub we said goodbye to the Irish portion of the evening and began the Canadian portion of the evening.
In the past we have seen the Weakerthans at pretty large venues, like the El Rey, so we were looking forward to seeing them in a more intimate venue, like the Roxy. We quickly found a corner to the left of the stage, that just so happened to be in front of the bar ( I guess the Irish part of the evening wasn't quite behind us after all).
With beer and corned beef-baited breath we waited for the show to begin. The crowed was a pretty mixed crowd, but since The Weakerthans have a pretty heavy cult following, we knew we were going to be singing along with a bunch of friends in music. With songs about amateur cartography, a cat named virtue and curling, it's easy to remember the lyrics, well that, and they're damn well written. John K. Samson, the lead vocalist, is a poet backed by some really amazing players. Most everyone in the band plays multiple roles. The drummer was playing the melodica at one point, the lead guitar player also doubled in on pedal steel and their super utility man put in time on both acoustic and electric guitar, keyboards and even trumpet.
The set was really well laid out, starting off with some of the higher energy tunes of their recent records that lead into some more of the mellow tunes of prior records. John took the stage by himself to play a few of the instrumental-minimal songs such as 'One Great City!'. The band soon came back up after a few songs and started really getting animated - running around and giving a good high-energy performance. Towards the end of the set, a luck fan got picked out of the crowd and got to play a solo, which I thought was very cool but I'm glad wasn't me.
After an encore, it was the end of our visiting time with The Weakerthans. Truly depressing that they show up to gig Southern California every 2-4 years. We'll be waiting around waiting for a new album or another tour. You know what I'm talking aboot?
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