Live music review: Christy Moore

Glór Theatre, Ennis, Co Clare

At 69, Christy Moore is still challenging himself. He is not just looking forward, but looking back and drawing from that. Over two nights at Co Clare’s Glór Theatre, the consummate interpreter of songs regaled the sold-out audiences with performances of extraordinary depth, expression and joy. Without his regular accompanist, Declan Sinnott, who is on hiatus to focus on solo work, Moore employed his ‘side-project’: Máirtín O’Connor on accordion, percussionist Jim Higgins, guitarist Séamie O’Dowd and fiddler/banjoist Cathal Hayden. Hardcore Moore fans, used to seeing him pared-down musically, were a little disconcerted initially.

But to witness the smiling faces exiting the theatre on Saturday night, after the 130-minute show, it was evident that the sceptics had been won over.