Christy Moore, Vicar Street, Dublin

Ireland's Greatest Living Musician (as voted for in 2007, and what's changed since?) and an expectant, knowledgeable home crowd, a recipe for a special occasion.  74 years old and showing little sign of slowing down, Moore was onstage without a break for 2 hours and sounding as strong and passionate as ever.  He was accompanied by regular co-conspirator and strings virtuoso Declan Sinnot, who worked his way through a shelf load of guitars, plus a guy on fiddle, banjo and mandolin, a percussionist and a backing singer.  Together they worked their way through a host of Moore favourites, with some newer material thrown in.

It was straight into the singing for the first three numbers, but none of the oldies he sang needed any introduction to this sold out audience.  When he did start talking it was with all the old fluency, thought, humour and political conviction, while also demonstrating an effective line in putting down the odd drunken heckler.  And it was good to hear an outsider looking in at the blind stupidity of brexhshit.

Sinnott has long been one of Ireland's greatest ever guitarists, and his clever accompaniments and fluid solos complement the stolidity of Moore's approach.  The rest of the band were a solid match, including some fiery banjo playing. They were joined by the 'choir' on many of the choruses, invited or otherwise.  This was a room full of dedicated Moore fans and he would never get away with missing out Lisdoonvarna.

Rousing stuff, funny, engaging, involving, Moore remains one of the great live acts of the folk world.