The latest release reviewed

THE DUBLINERS
Live at Vicar Street Celtic Arts ***

A grand loaf of bread whose wrapper varies but whose recipe never alters'? Hmmm . . . The sleeve notes use a stretched metaphor that struggles for relevance amid this unquestionable celebration of a band whose shape has contracted and expanded over the years to respond to the choices and fortunes of its members. All the crowd pleasers are here: The Rocky Road to Dublin, Whiskey in the Jar and The Black Velvet Band; and the arrangements serve some of the songs well, but the absence of either the Drew or Kelly pebble-dashed voices renders The Dubliners a more diluted experience. John Sheahan's finesse is evident throughout, and Barney McKenna's boisterousness is barely diminished, but, despite the best efforts of Patsy Watchorn, Jim McCann and Seán Cannon, this is The Dubliners without the backbone of old.