ALTHOUGH the begrudgers might have been expecting a field day, yesterday's Homecoming concert in Mill street was a fitfully entertaining excuse to spend a sultry Sabbath idling about in the nonstop sunshine.
Dylan free (Bob, that is) it may have been and, in truth, you could not call the line up wildly exciting, but there was enough to justify the ticket price.
With a humid lunchtime set, Afro Celt Sound System gave an exhilarating lesson in dub and trad, neatly marrying folksy arrangements to the beat and bleeps of electronica. This dovetailed nicely into Altan's fruity folk flavourings, the ensemble revelling in the breezy summer atmosphere.
Paul Brady, with Curtis Steigers in tow, was earnest and worthy. But, while the undisputed quality of his songs showed through, his contribution may have been a little too solemn for some.
The Corrs were as saccharine sweet as always, an all singing, all dancing definition of cute. The crowd loved them to death, almost as much as they loved Brian Kennedy, who offered faultless renditions of his hits and an elongated cover version of Van Morrison's Crazy Love.
When The Man himself took centre stage, he came complete with a nine piece orchestra. Their practised jazzy doodlings lightened the tone of a set which ranged from old favourites such as Into The Mystic to newer stuff from The Healing Game.
To round things oft, we had a dollop of the Saw Doctors' crowd pleasing antics and, finally, the evergreen poetics of Shane McGowan.