Check out Dublin Gulch at the Covellite, Depot, Civic Center

For years, St. Patrick’s Day was the biggest day of the year for me. By far.

I could usually tell you how many days it was until the big day. We would celebrate Sept. 17 because it was the halfway point until the next St. Paddy’s celebration.

My favorite part of the day was always listening to the band Dublin Gulch play at the Silver Dollar.

For one thing, Dublin Gulch is the best name of a band this side of the Barenaked Ladies. That name comes from Butte’s first neighborhood — the one we recently had to fight to stop our local government and British Petroleum from covering with toxic waste.

The atmosphere for the Dublin Gulch’s post-parade performances is always nuts. A good kind of nuts. I’ve been concerts by Garth Brooks, Billy Joel, Sawyer Brown, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Twenty One Pilots, and I would take Dublin Gulch over all of them.

The crowd sways and sings along as it kicks off Butte’s biggest party.

I always loved their rebel songs the best. My favorite is “Come Out, Ye Black and Tans.”

The song, which was most famously recorded by the Wolfe Tones in 1972, is a poignant, taunting rebel song that drips of beautiful sarcasm. 

I have listened to dozens of singers cover that song over the years and, for my money, nobody sings it better than Tom Powers of Dublin Gulch.

The same could be said about a bunch of classic Irish songs Tom and the guys play. They also have some really good original tunes. Their song “Tap ‘er Light,” which is about our beloved M&M, is solid gold. 

Sure, I might be biased a bit by the title, but it really is great. Go ahead and listen for yourself on Apple Music or Spotify.

From 2007 until 2022, though, I did not see the band play once. I listened to their albums plenty of times, but I did not see them live.

That’s because I quit drinking alcohol following the death of my good friend Leo McCarthy’s daughter Mariah in October of 2007. No, you do not have to be a drinker to enjoy the Dublin Gulch playing Irish songs. It is just what I did when I heard them play on St. Paddy’s Day.

I was one of those drinkers with no off switch, too. One was too many, and 24 was not enough.

Seeing the hurt in my buddy’s eyes and hearing his moving eulogy of his daughter in the fall of 2007 made me start to rethink my life choices. Then, I had a good talk with my daughter, who was 4 at the time. We made each other a promise. I said I would never drink again, and she would live by the ideals of Mariah’s Challenge, which had not yet officially launched.

We both lived up to that promise, and she received the Mariah’s Challenge Scholarship two years ago. Living up to my end of the bargain meant I had to make some changes.

Going to the bar right after the St. Paddy’s Day parade just seemed too big of a threat to that pact. Several times in the past, I would go there planning to take it easy and not drink during the day. Then, someone would hand me a beer, and we were off.

Sadly, that made my favorite holiday turn into just another day in March. I stayed far away from the party in Uptown Butte because I didn’t want to be tempted to break that pledge to my little girl.

Instead of catching a great performance by a great band, I went for a walk or jog with my dogs. Then I would stay home and work or watch TV as the rest of Butte, America celebrated.

Last year, I decided it was time to again check out my old friends, who moved their post-parade show to the Butte Depot, for the first time in 15 years.

Leading into the holiday a year ago, I invited Tom to be a guest on my podcast, the ButteCast, and we had a great conversation about the band and so much more.

Then, I went to the bar following the parade. I figured the times of temptation had passed, and I wanted to hear those songs again. In particular, I wanted to hear “The Black Velvet Band,” “The Rising of the Moon” and “Come Out, Ye Black and Tans.”

I could not believe how good it was. I was blown away. Not only is the band still great. It is better than ever.

Tom has not lost a step, and neither have Mick Cavanaugh, Jim Schulz or John Joyner. The band also added Conor Powers, Emerson Vorel and Luke Michelson, and they are all great additions to an already incredible collection of musicians.

Plus, the size and setting of the venue at the Depot is absolutely perfect for their performance. That all added up to a show that was so good that I immediately started thinking about the next St. Paddy’s Day, which is finally almost here.

This is also the busiest time of the year for Dublin Gulch, which gives us three chances to catch them this weekend. The band will play at the Covellite Theater at 7 p.m. on Saturday. It will be at the Depot following the parade, which starts at noon, and then Dublin Gulch will highlight the Handing Down of the Heritage at 6:30 at the Civic Center.

I hope you will join me at the Depot after the parade for the best show of the year. I plan to be there again this year and every other St. Patrick’s Day for as long as the band keeps playing.

There is no way I will miss it again.

Thankfully, Dublin Gulch once again made me see that March 17 is still so much more than just another day in March.

— Bill Foley, who will be the one repeatedly screaming “Black and Tans” at the band Sunday, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74. Listen to him on the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.