The inhabitants of Washington, DC, have plenty of Irish bars in which to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Some of the bigger pubs, such as my beloved Ireland’s Four Fields in Cleveland Park, convert themselves into rapidfire drinking houses, where the maximum number of people are intended to cram into the walls of the bar, which has been stripped bare save for the stage where a procession of Irish rock and folk musicians will play for a portion of the $10-$20 cover.
Thankfully, there are saner ways to enjoy a bit of Irish mayhem, and one of those options presented itself in the form of O’Tasty, a DC Celtic punk band performing last night at Iota in the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington, Va. Now the raucous members of O’Tasty may not think of themselves as the more civilized option for observing St. Pats as they rock out, drink lots of beer and swear copiously as they call down Celtic Thunder with a mix of amped up Irish folk favorites, covers of The Pogues, and their own compositions.
The relatively large band leaps energetically through its Irish offerings with a mandolin, fiddle, guitar, drum and piccolo as frontman James O’Brien gruffly sings his way through their catalog with swagger so authentic you would swear you were on the set of a movie about a raucous Irish band covering traditional favorites for your pleasure in a seedy Dublin bar.
O’Tasty appear to have an aversion to the local DC pubs, however, and their next gig is at none other than DC9 next month. Throw back a few of the bar’s cans of Guinness and enjoy the lighthearted debauchery if you get the chance!
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