Galway singer and fiddle player Mirn Fahy is a soloist with Riverdance. She has also recently toured with the Chieftains and released a solo album. She used a recent night off from Riverdance for this impressive appearance in Whelan's. She was joined by Chris Kelly (guitar), her sister Yvonne (percussion), brother Gerard (pipes, whistle and bouzouki) and Benny Hayes (keyboards).

Fahy's playing style is remarkably relaxed. There are no extravagant flourishes and, even playing at hectic speeds, the music always has room to breathe. She developed tunes skilfully, constantly varying the ornaments and reshaping lines. Yvonne Fahy, Chris Kelly and Benny Hayes were able accompanists, adding weight to the music while remaining unobtrusive.

Mirn Fahy found her stride early on with a set of Kerry polkas, which brought out her spiky, rhythmic approach and also featured Bluegrass-style slides and double-stops. The evening's highlight was the high-speed Pachelbel Reels, where the sheer intricacy and ingenuity of her ornamentation was breathtaking.

Mixed in with the instrumentals was a handful of songs, which were not so successful. Fahy's singing lacks the spaciousness of her playing, and the use of heavy keyboard accompaniments did not help.

The one success was a surprising choice - Strongest Weakness, a song associated with Wynnona Judd, which was sung with an assurance lacking in her Irish ballads. However, the fiddle playing was uniformly excellent, whether on the gentle but punchy The Brown Coffin or the closing dynamic set of polkas.