They\u2019re the masters of shamrock-and-roll.<\/p>\n
Infamous Irish punk band The Prodigals tossed back a new type of Guinness <\/a>Friday and partied at their equally famous home pub like it was 1997.<\/p>\n Paddy Reilly\u2019s Music Bar threw a Celtic celebration in honor of its homegrown musicians \u2014 who secured the World Record for \u201clongest annual residency by a band\u201d after 29 years of dedicated weekly shows at the Kips Bay landmark.<\/p>\n The Prodigals have been playing at Paddy Reilly\u2019s Music Bar for more than 29 years. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post<\/p>\n The crowd roared when the band took the stage \u2014 and went even crazier when old members picked up their instruments in an ode to the nearly three-decade legacy they have etched into the Manhattan bar.<\/p>\n \u201cI am absolutely delighted,\u201d Gregory Grene, The Prodigals\u2019 lead singer, accordionist and only remaining original member, told The Post.<\/p>\n \u201cBizarrely, it\u2019s a wonderful feeling of time continuing and standing still at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n The Prodigals were officially handed their Guinness World Record this week,<\/a> but \u201cThe Open Reel\u201d artists cemented their place in history on St. Patrick\u2019s Day \u2014 the 29th anniversary of its first-ever show at Paddy Reilly\u2019s that established its long-running partnership.<\/p>\n The band secured the Guinness World Record for \u201clongest annual residency by a band.\u201d Christopher Sadowski for NY Post<\/p>\n The band, currently comprised of Grene, drummer Eamon Ellams, guitarist Colin Forhan and flautist Sean Tierney, 35, plays every Friday and Saturday night at the pub \u2014 when they\u2019re not touring around the world.<\/p>\n It took some time to muster up the pay stubs, newspaper articles and other documents that proved they had consistently played at the pub, a tedious process that offered its members a nostalgic trip down memory lane.<\/p>\n The Prodigals got their start at the bar in 1997 after Grene pleaded with then-owner Steve Duggan to give a fellow \u201cCavan [County] lad<\/a>\u201d his career start \u2014 a chance that legendary flute and whistle player Joanie <\/a>Madden ushered Duggan to take. <\/p>\n A few years later, Christy Turlington hired The Prodigals for a yacht party and then followed them back to the pub for a \u201cwild night\u201d of partying that became front-page news for Page Six.<\/p>\n Gregory Grene seen with supermodel Christy Turlington.<\/p>\n The Prodigals, seen here with Paddy Reilly, at center and for whom the bar is named after, started playing at the pub in 1997.<\/p>\n \u201cI am absolutely delighted,\u201d Grene said of the celebration. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post<\/p>\n Grene met the woman who became the mother of his daughter \u2014 who grew up to be a talented violinist in her own right \u2014 and the band\u2019s music was plucked for the 2008 movie, \u201cPride and Glory,\u201d starring Edward Norton and Colin Farrell.<\/p>\n Paddy Reilly\u2019s also hosts an annual fundraiser every year in honor of Grene\u2019s twin brother, Andrew, a United Nations advisor who died in the 2010 Haiti earthquake and whose picture hangs inside the venerable venue \u2014 an example of the \u201cfamily\u201d that has been cultivated over the years. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just simply extraordinary. There\u2019s a warmth in this city that doesn\u2019t always get the spotlight that it should. It is the smallest big city in the world,\u201d Grene said of the Big Apple.<\/p>\n Although the members have had several rotations over the years and the bar\u2019s ownership changed hands in 2023, Grene said the most glaring change is simply in the crowds that come every Friday and Saturday \u2014 most of whom weren\u2019t even born when the band knocked back their first whiskey there.<\/p>\n The Prodigals are famous around the world. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post<\/p>\n The only thing that\u2019s changed over the years is the crowd \u2014 who stay young, says Grene. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post<\/p>\n