Happy Birthday Mr Yeats!

We recall the world premiere of An Appointment with Mr. Yeats in 2010. Since setting The Stolen Child to music on their classic Fisherman’s Blues album, Waterboys’ singer Mike Scott had been quietly crafting a rich collection of songs utilising Yeats’ poems as lyrics. A few were performed solo by Scott during the Yeats International Festival at the Abbey Theatre in the 1990s, but most remained unheard, waiting for the moment when, in Scott’s words, “I had enough songs to create a full programme and present it in a potent, radical fashion, worthy of the Abbey Theatre which Yeats himself founded.”

An Appointment with Mr. Yeats was performed by a unique extended line-up of The Waterboys featuring Mike Scott and Irish fiddler extraordinaire Steve Wickham. Audience member Patricia Reid shared this experience on the Abbey Theatre website at the time.

“When we heard that Mike Scott and The Waterboys were putting music to 20 poems by Mr. Yeats, we rushed to get tickets and flights over to Dublin from Winnipeg. We were so fortunate and a real honour to be there for opening night at The Abbey! It was an inspired and inspiring experience and we’re grateful to have been there to share such a spirited and wonderful interpretation of the poems. Bravo, Mr. Scott & the brilliant musicians in the Waterboys. Thank you, Mr. Yeats, for enriching our world.” 

Patricia Reid Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
23 Mar 2010, 22:48