WET, windy night in Dublin may be a poor substitute for Austin, Texas, but Dale Watson and his four Lone Stars did their best to turn up the heat on their first visit to the city last night.

Watson's is old-fashioned. Merle Haggard-influenced country music. None of your cross-over, middle-of-the-road mush for this small, dapper man with a voice which could cut through glass and a guitar-playing style which manages to make a virtue of economy. He is a 300-gigs-a-year-man and it shows. He may have a new album out - Blessed or Damned - but this performance had little to do with marketing. He and his fine bar band played a rake of songs, some his own and some inspired covers, as he sought to convert the small but willing audience.

Although he sank somewhat during the middle of a long set he and his merry men had room to spare as they stormed home with their mix of rocka-billy, Texas swing and plain honky-tonk music.