Firmly established at the forefront of the Manchester folk festival and club scene, Mat Walklate’s Men can boast many years of live performance between them. This charismatic and characterful trio of seasoned musicians share a passion for all things Celtic, and will deliver a rip-roaring, energetic set of Irish songs, tunes and dances guaranteed to please virtually any wedding audience.
The trio can augment to a larger band when required through the addition of fiddles, pipes, bodhran, melodeon and other instruments, but can also appear as a duo for more intimate events. A specialist dance-caller is included in their line-up to organise ceilidh dancing when appropriate.
Irish charm with a touch of the Blarney
Find out more about Mat Walklate’s Men: Manchester Irish Ceilidh band for Weddings.
The personal warmth and charisma of the band’s individual members shines through each performance, and their total commitment to their music-making is self-evident, resulting in an infectious energy that inevitably pulls the crowd along with it. Their contagious enthusiasm is simply irresistible.
Authenticity steeped in Tradition
The Gaelic and Celtic culture in the British Isles is nowhere captured to greater effect than in the preservation of its traditional music and dance. In their chosen instrumentation of guitar/mandola, double-bass, and flute/whistle/harmonica, combined with searing vocals, Mat Walklate’s Men do their bit towards celebrating and preserving this culture in an authentic way.
Timeless, iconic Irish favourites
Spirited renditions of all the epic Irish sing-along, dance-along classics can be enjoyed in a typical performance. High-energy versions of ‘Wild Rover’, ‘Tell Me Ma’ or ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ can be interspersed with laid-back romantic or tragic ballads such as ‘Danny Boy’ or ‘Fields Of Athenry’, then the mood changes again with everyone on their feet dancing ‘Bridge Of Athlone’ and ‘Strip The Willow’.
An Irish Ceilidh is fantastic wedding entertainment
There’s no doubt about it, the time-honoured tradition of ceilidh-dancing is unbeatable fun, eminently suitable for wedding celebrations as a terrific ice-breaker. The band can bring along one of the Northwest’s most experienced ceilidh-callers to explain and demonstrate the steps and moves for each dance, so it really doesn’t matter if you or your guests have never tried it before – besides, getting it wrong is all part of the fun!
An extremely talented, versatile and enthusiastic Irish band with many years of performing experience under their belts, Mat Walklate’s Men know exactly how to involve and entertain their audience through irresistible stagecraft and musical expertise. Their good-natured, fun-loving approach to their music is contagious, and is guaranteed to generate and maintain the festive atmosphere essential to the success of any wedding reception party.
