Gone are the days when Ireland's showbands had to leave our chaste shores during Lent, touring the libertine dance halls of Britain instead. A lot has changed, but judging by the turnout for Ireland's Showbands Show at Dublin's Olympia Theatre, the flame of romance still abides.
And fuelling it was a commingling of Ireland's former showband glories, brought together from the four corners of the globe for a night of nostalgic crooning.
The house glowed with seasonal goodwill as comperes Ronan Collins and George Jones vied for laughs. With instrumentals and backing vocals provided by the superb All Star Galaxy Band, even the uninitiated would have recognised a musical powerhouse, talent as well as flesh bursting from the seams.
A string of well-dressed warblers lifted their throats to the sky. Susan McCann from The Storytellers belts out Lipstick on Your Collar, clad in diamante from top to toe; Roly Daniels from The Nevada Showband gyrated to Sweet Caroline; Brendan Bowyer broke our hearts with When God Created Woman and an inspired Elvis medley; and Collins and Jones brought the night to a triumphant close with a rousing rendition of The Hop.
By night's end the audience are dancing in the aisles, despite the bizarre efforts of some bouncers to stop them (at a dance hall retrospect?!). All in all, a quality night out for lovers of shmooze.