SEAN Maguire was in flamboyant form here in red dickey-bow among the comfort of old associates. The fiddler is properly described as "legendary", for his years on stage, his great music talent, and his particular synthesis of classical style and traditional repertoire, displayed here in flamboyant, even if rather scant measure. lndeed, the audience actually knew this (that's why they were there), making piano accompanist Patsy McCabe's constant eulogising seem patronising, aggravating - and unnecessary.

Perhaps such ardour could have been better applied to rectifying the atrocious sound quality. Joe Burke and Anne Conroy alone had proper mediation, playing beautifully rounded accordion and guitar, but Ronan Browne's pipes were crazily top-end, and Frankie Gavin's fiddle inaudible against a jangling melange of semi-acoustic guitar and piano.

So too with Maguire. While his Scottish-style fiddle orchestra had a fine, big sound clearly underscored by harp and delicate cordovox, the maestro's solo fiddle was regrettably dominated by it. Only in moments could he come through - on a wonderful Taimse 'mo Chodhladh, a virtuosic Gypsy piece and a French Canadian Denis Pepin reel ascribed as "Hungarian", a magnificient Bee's Wing and Alisdair Fraser's hornpipe/reel set. There was the cutting of a fiddle-shape cake by Sean and wife Maureen, dancer Siobhan McKee was exhilarating and impressive, and in spite of the electronic inadequacy the finale with guest musicians managed to rise to celebration on solid reel sets.