Maybe it was the luck of the Irish. Or maybe it was something else entirely. Whatever it was, Paddywhack definitely tapped into something special during the late 1970s and early ’80s — something other than Guinness.

The band routinely packed Jesse’s, O.G. Kelley’s, Chesterfield’s and the Zoo Bar, filling the Lincoln nightclubs with high-energy traditional Irish music that had people clapping hands and stomping feet.

“It was amazing to us,” said Chris Sayre. “We were hippies just wanting to have some fun.”

On Saturday — 28 years after Sayre and Dan Newton played Irish tunes for the first time together in a living room in Lincoln — Paddywhack will be together again, but this time with much, much shorter hair.

The band — Sayre, Newton, Dave Marsh and Terry Keefe — will perform a reunion concert at The Loft at The Mill. The performance is part of the LAFTA (Lincoln Association for Traditional Arts) concert series.

“It always seems like the four of us were meant to play together,”  Marsh said. “I didn’t realize it then, but since then I’ve played with a lot of other people. We seemed to click as musicians and as friends.”

Sayre said Paddywhack’s genesis was “just one of those things.”

Newton, who now lives in Minneapolis and performs with Cafe Accordion, had been to Ireland and developed an interest in playing Irish music. He recruited Sayre because he knew he played the concertina.

Local musician Jim Versch joined them, and their practice sessions led to gigs at local nightclubs.

“Nobody else was doing (Irish music)” Sayre said. “We filled in a little niche, and it just snowballed.”

While playing a benefit concert for community radio station KZUM, Paddywhack found its fourth member when Marsh sat in and played the spoons. After Versch left the band, the trio asked fiddle player Keefe to join them.

“To be honest, when we started out we weren’t all that great of musicians,” Sayre admitted. “But we had all this great energy going at our live shows.”

As bands do, Paddywhack broke up and Newton moved north to pursue other musical interests.

The foursome have reunited off and on over the years for the occasional concert and/or recording session. In 2001, the band produced the CD “Whacked Out.”

Saturday night’s LAFTA concert will feature Paddywhack’s new release, “Something Old, Something New.” The 13-song disc combines old favorites (“The Trumpet Hornpipe Medley,” “General Guinness”) and newer tunes (“The Harp Without a Crown,” “Tell Me Ma”).

The band will play songs from the new CD as well as other traditional Irish music, including reels, jigs and ballads.

The musicians guarantee the audience will have a good time.

“When we play, it’s kind of a magical music experience,” Marsh said.

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.

If you go

Paddywhack

The Loft at the Mill, Eighth and P streets

7:30 p.m. Saturday

$17, $10 for students; $1 children under 12; available at the door or online at lafta.nebraska.edu