Katie's Pub, also called Katie's Irish Pub, is a pub in Burlington, Vermont, associated with Sisters Erie. It hosted the band's first U.S. performance in summer 2012 and the final performance of their Wind & Rain Tour on October 4, 2013.1
The connection is personal as well as musical. Katie is a Flynn family friend known to all four sisters, and the band already knew Sean from County Laois. Burlington became a recurring point in the sisters' American history through those relationships.1 2
A first American performance
The sisters visited the United States shortly after releasing The Coming Storm in spring 2012. Katie helped turn the visit into a small international run, beginning at her Burlington pub.2
Three more performances followed: Black Moon Coffee in Silver Hollow, Vermont; the Canoe Club in Hanover, New Hampshire; and The Harp in Amherst, Massachusetts. The four-stop mini-tour established Katie's as the first U.S. venue in the band's history.2 4
A familiar room in Burlington
Katie brought staff from Ireland, and Gael knew Sean at the pub. The sisters' prior relationships made the venue more than an anonymous stop on a route through New England.1
For the band, returning to Burlington meant finding people who already knew the family. That connection is part of the venue's significance in both the earlier visit and the later tour finale.1 3
The Wind & Rain finale
The 2013 tour began in Los Angeles on September 1 and moved east through nineteen performances. After stops in New York and New England, the sisters reached Katie's on October 4.3
Their return joined the two American trips: the first had begun there, while the longer cross-country tour ended there. The public band history presents the finale as a return to family friends and a familiar venue.1 3