Hilary and I are great fans of the Irish band Gaelic Storm. We've seen them twice before. They just so happened to be finishing their most recent tour at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis - on St. Patrick's Day. Hilary and I simply had to go. We also had the pleasure of the company of one of Hilary's classmates and her longtime friend. 
There are musically adept groups out there, and there are entertainers. It can be rare to find a group that combines both - and Gaelic Storm is one of them. They put on a great show with great music and hilarious stories (you've not heard Johnny Tarr until it's done as country-western). They also did a few numbers from their upcoming album due out this summer. Being St. Patrick's day just made it extra nice. Speaking of which, they recently had their tune "Kiss Me I'm Irish" included in a St. Paddy's Day Hallmark card. It was probably just the tune, however, since the lyrics have a fair bit of drinking and other debauchery. 
The Guthrie itself is an amazing venue - only recently finished in the last year or two, a replacement for the old Guthrie theater. From an upper balcony (the outdoorsy kind, not in a performance hall) you could look down the Mississippi River at the building site for the replacement I-35W bridge. They host some pretty high-brow stuff. We were very bummed to miss out on recent performances of the Royal Shakespeare Company doing King Lear, with Ian McKellen in the lead. It's a rather posh venue, too, compared to Gaelic Storm's usual. As their guitarist, Steve Twigger, said, "I feel like they've steerage up into first class."
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