Celtic rockers, the Young Dubliners, return to the Knitting Factory

During the early 1980s, the holy trinity of alt-rock out of the United Kingdom comprised U2, which hails from Ireland, Big Country from Scotland and the Alarm from Wales. Each of the then-emerging bands created urgent, upbeat rock with melody to spare.

“People forget that those three bands were getting popular and had so many similarities,” Young Dubliners singer-songwriter Keith Roberts said. “Each of those groups had a big impact on people like me.”

Roberts was particularly drawn to Big Country, which crafted anthemic songs with ringing bagpipe-esque guitars as a nod to their native Scotland. “In a Big Country,” “Fields of Fire” and “Look Away” are some of the band’s hits. However, unlike U2 and the Alarm, Big Country no longer exists. The group died when singer-songwriter Stuart Adamson committed suicide in Hawaii in 2001.

“That was horrible news,” Roberts said, while calling from his Pasa Robles, California, home. “But Big Country lives on with me. That band had a huge impact on me as a musician.”

The Young Dubliners, performing Sunday at the Knitting Factory, has been around longer than Big Country. The group led by Roberts, who is the lone original member, formed in 1988 and released its first album, “Rocky Road” in 1994.

“It’s hard to believe that it’s been 30 years since ‘Rocky Road’ came out,” Roberts said. “But it’s funny since I feel like I’ve just begun.”

Roberts has consistently crafted traditional folk music with powerful electric Celtic rock. Roberts isn’t such a young Dubliner at 59, but he still possesses a considerable amount of energy. Roberts vigorously strums his guitar as he belts out such Young Dubliners favorites as “Banshee,” “Come Back Home” and “Liverpool.”

“I still feel the way I did when I started this group,” Roberts said. “The music makes you feel young. I think about those early days when we started out in a bar in Santa Monica. We would play on Saturday nights and just bring it as hard as we could.”

The Young Dubliners, which also includes violinist-keyboardist Chaz Waltz, guitarist Justin Pecot, bassist Ethan Jones and drummer Dave Ingraham, have not lost a step and are passionately delivering the traditional Irish tunes, such as “The Foggy Dew” and “Follow Me Up to Carlow.”

“It’s always a blast whether it’s our season, which is around St. Patrick’s Day or any time of year,” Roberts said. “Just let us get out and have a good time. How we feel rubs off on the audience.”