The Narrowbacks @ Jersey City Irish Festival, Jersey City, NJ – 9.30.17

The Narrowbacks played Jersey City Irish Festival at Exchange Place in Jersey City on September 30th. The Narrowbacks have been playing the fest every September for the last few years. This year featured freezing, windy temperatures and oh yeah, a missing lead singer for a half hour.

Jersey City Irish Festival is a bit weird because there’s not much advertising for it. They barely announced bands until a few weeks it was supposed to happen. I think there would be a bigger turn out if they had some proper advertisement and get the word out. They have a Facebook page, update that frequently maybe and with bands, set times, etc.? I thought Narrowbacks were going to go on at 7 but then I saw on Facebook they were going on at 6. I went with my wife and 2 year old son down there around 6 and it was so damn cold out. We got some quick food to eat at the Polish tent and it felt like we were eating in a wind tunnel. I went back to my apt to get a hoodie because denim jacket wasn’t cutting it.

Singer of the band, Seamus, was missing at the start of the set. I believe he was stuck in traffic. The band went on without him and played instrumentals. Barry, the banjo player, sang lead for a few songs including one of my favorites. After each song, the band was frantically checking their phones and texting him it appeared. I was joking with others around me mimicking texting “where the fuck are you?” over and over. About a half hour into the set, after the band played a cover of “Rockin’ In The Free World,” Seamus showed up. I watched the band play for about 90 minutes or more. They were going strong for awhile and the crowd stuck around to dance around in the wind for hours. Bravo to them, but I was cold and saw a lot of the songs I wanted them to perform. They put on a fun show and play a lot of covers when doing these festivals. I loved hearing “Shannon,” “Loisaida,” “Out On The Avenue,” “Rosie” and “the Temperance.”

Photo-wise, I was using all 3 lenses that I use: 14-24, 24-70, 70-200mm f2.8 and shot around ISO 1600-3200. I was getting a lot of good shots of Barry because he didn’t have that ugly looking silver stage as his backdrop.

The Entire Gallery

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Tags: celtic, Concert Photography, jersey city, Jersey City Irish Festival, The Narrowbacks