It’s all very superficial, very irritating, any excuse to get drunk. Until we get upstairs, that is, and revel at the massively varied and jollified crowd. Squeezing into the sweaty and smoky Academy 2, we could almost be at a ceidleih in Cork. There are couples dancing, reeling and skitting around, feet thumping, hands clapping and a genuine spark of wildness and excitement in the air. This is what happens when you get one of the most famous radio presenters ever to front an accomplished folk band. The Family Mahone’s Mark Radcliffe is nothing short of fantastic as he growls his way through a feast of traditional and bastardised folk standards and drinking songs, whilst knocking hell out of a drum kit with casual aplomb. Swaggering his way on to stage in scandalously tight PVC trousers, Sultans of Ping frontman Niall O’Flaherty is on tripping fire tonight. Having heard only a few tracks by the Ping, I was mightily impressed by how catchy and well crafted their entire repertoire was. O’Flaherty and company wowed and roused the crowd throughout, clambering onto speakers, flying out into the crowd and generally proving that this dog had many days left to rock. Had Saint Patrick been in attendance, I suspect he would have been proud.
| 
