Christy Moore takes fans on a voyage at Marquee gig
It was a night of ceol agus craic at the Marquee last night as Irish folk singer Christy Moore serenaded his sweltering audience of stalwart fans on another balmy evening in Cork.
Opening with ‘The City of Chicago,’ Mr Moore appeared to be in high spirits as he encouraged his crowd to sing along with his classic hit and the packed tent eagerly obliged.
Flanked by Declan Sinnott on guitar, Jim Higgins on percussion and Cattal Hadden on the fiddle and banjo, Christy played a mix of well-known verses, peppered with lesser known songs over the space of two hours and he even threw in a brand new track to keep the crowd on their toes.
Speaking to his rapturous audience, who remained captivated and engaged from start to finish, Christy said it was his 13th year playing at Live At The Marquee, and he was delighted to be here.
“You are all on good singing form tonight,” Christy remarked early in the night, giving his approval to the vocal chords of the crowd.
Hits like ‘Black is the colour,’ ‘Lisdoonvarna,’ ‘Jockser,’ ‘Ordinary Man’ and ‘Ride on’ were all belted out with enthusiasm and energy as the night of Irish folk music unfolded.
After 13 years in the tent, Christy played with all the fervour and dedication of a young artist looking to break out of the mould and this committed performance was well received by his fans.
Raucous applause followed every rendition and the Kildare man even wangled a standing ovation from his adoring audience before he left the tent.
‘The Ballad of Patrick Murphy,’ a song written by local legend John Spillane was well received and a mandatory shout-out was given to Mr Spillane who was in the audience and the three grandchildren of Patrick Murphy, who were also present at the gig.
Christy’s new song, ‘Uncle Jimmy’s wake’ went down a treat and as the night edged on, the crowd were ravenous for more.
‘Beeswing’ and ‘Missing you’ were gently sung back to the musician as he sat, eye closed, surrounded by his band, belting out the well-known ballads.
Other songs sung on the night were ‘Veronica’ a song written for Veronica Guerin and ‘Politico Lingo’ a mercurial little number picked up over the last few years.
Finishing up, Christy played ‘The Voyage’ and thanked his attentive audience for a great night.
Roll on next year, for another exhilarating and enjoyable night of lilting songs sung by one of Ireland’s most well-known trad artist.
