The Reilly Clan held court at Tommy Sullivan's Café in Branford on Saturday night. Tommy Sullivan's is a small Irish bar/restaurant with an excellent staff and some great food. The place was packed an hour and a half before show time and the only seating available for latecomers was out on the patio, where the band couldn't be heard. Several people instead chose to just stand in the back corner of the bar and enjoy the show on their feet. This was a friendly, fun crowd, until the Guinness tap ran dry, a problem which Tommy was quick to remedy.

The Reilly Clan used this show to preview some of the songs from their upcoming second CD as well as to entertain the crowd with the traditional Irish songs that they've become so skilled at presenting in this type of setting. The crowd was lively and enjoying themselves as they happily sang along to their favorite Irish songs. The loudest crowd response was for tradition favorites such as "The Men Behind The Wire", "Finnegan's Wake", "The Merry Plowboy", and "Irish Rover." The new songs were also well received but the crowd's unfamiliarity with them prevented the type of sing-alongs that the traditional tunes received. The band's new material is written in the same traditional Irish styles and bandleader Brian Reilly even joked that "we write new traditional Irish songs all the time."

The band played 3 sets on this night and their sense of humor seemed to grow as the night went on. They even performed Brian's attempt at writing a country-flavored song, which brother Dennis Reilly jokingly promised would never appear on any of the band's CDs. In the end, this was a rousing and thoroughly enjoyable show by a very promising local band.

The Reilly Clan will be returning to Toad's Place in New Haven in September to open another show for Black 47. This one will be another lively show and shouldn't be missed. For information on the new Reilly Clan CD you can contact Brian Reilly at ClanReilly@aol.com.