The BordererS Father’s Day Irish Gala

Why don’t you have your Father’s Day lunch downstairs in the Arkaba bistro, and then take him upstairs and give him the best Father’s Day gift ever!

You and your dad are gonna love the Irish dancers and Pipe band, an Irish comedian and The BordererS very special guest from America - the amazing Jo Lawry who sings with Sting, Paul Simon & Peter Gabriel. 

She’ll regale you with stories about being on the road with these guys, plus perform songs from her debut album I Want to Be Happy which was released in 2008 to rave reviews, and named among the “Best CDs of the Decade” by Downbeat Magazine. You may also remember her from the recent Oscar-winning documentary, 20 Feet from Stardom.

If you missed out on the 25th Anniversary Scottish Gala at the Gov, then you don’t want to let this one go by.  (See review below)

Doors open 1pm, show at 2pm.

Tickets $35+booking fee
$40 on the door (if not sold out.

The BordererS 25th Anniversary Gala (Reviewed by John Glennie)
Sunday 24th March 2019

25 years later and The BordererS are still electrifying audiences across Australia and the world with their fusion of Celtic rock, zydeco, African, folk, gospel and whatever style of music that happens to take their fancy.
They returned to The Gov to celebrate and brought their original line-up. What a show they put on – it truly was a Gala!

The BordererS graced the stage to huge cheers. We were definitely in for a great evening – Jim and Alex showed that the years have not slowed them down. In fact, I think they have even more energy than they started out with in 1994.

They played two sets, each with 13 high-energy songs including some covers, highlights of their own music and Scottish classics. Mid way through the first set, The Garrick Stewart School of Scottish Dancing came to the dance floor to perform the sword dance to The Battle Song.

When The BordererS left the stage the Gala didn’t stop there. We were entertained again by the pipe band playing Scottish classics as well as covers of Queen and AC/DC and wonderfully supported by the highland dancers.
When the pipers left the floor we also had an entertaining segment from Scottish comedian & magician Kevin Kopfstein.

Back to the music as The BordererS returned to the stage for their second set. Another half dozen high energy songs with Jim and Alex dancing vigorously through all of them kicking legs to head height (I hoped that something was worn under their kilts!). Included in these songs were St Antonin (we had to sing the French chorus lines), and Jump Right In – which really did get the crowd jumping right in!

Very special guest Rachael Leahcar – runner up in the first season of The Voice – came on stage for a superb solo cover of Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Rachael said she recently celebrated her 25th birthday so felt honoured to be asked to sing at The BordererS 25thanniversary! She stayed on to sing a couple of verses of Higher Ground with the band – Rachael has an angelic voice but I much preferred her voice in this song!

The BordererS finished off the set with Scottish classics including Loch Lomond – not sure who took the high road or who took the low road but they included We Are Australian in the middle of the track. The crowd went wild to The Proclaimers’ 500 Miles before a sensational evening ended on a more subdued note with We’ll Meet Again.

I was surprised when I was leaving to note that the show went for 3½ hours – it definitely did not feel that long. Hard call, but I think this is the best show I have seen so far this year! Thank you for sharing your 25thanniversary with us Jim and Alex.

See you there for the same kind of event with your dad.