the highlands of Scotland and Ireland.

But the Boys Of The Lough have the ability to send a cool mountain breeze shivering down your spine with their Celtic sorcery.

Last night at City Hall they proved why they have a reputation as an outstanding live band mixing reels, jigs and ballads with great dexterity.

They swing from the striking and breathtaking to smooth, deliberate songs aimed at bringing a tear to the hardest highlander's eye.

The Boys Of the Lough are a multi-instrumentalist mixture from Ireland, the Shetland Islands and the very North of England.

Led by the incredibly talented Aly Bain, the five piece band has the power of enchantment over an audience.

Bain is a renowned fiddle player, some say the best there is. His sidekicks are David Richardson on strange stringed instruments and accordions, Christy O'Leary on uillean pipes, whistle and mouth organ and John Coakley on piano, guitar and fiddle.

And then there is Cathal McConnell, a highly talented flute and whistle player, whose slow, dry sense of humour keept the crowd amused between songs.

In fact Cathal is able to keep the band in stitches long after the next song should have started.

He has a fascinating repertoire giving everyone an insight into his colleagues. You left City Hall knowing each member's star sign and that David Richardson was the tallest member of the band! Getting down to the real business, the Boys Of the Lough have been delighting audiences around the world for 25 years.

They can fiddle up a storm with reels and jigs from the British Isles, France and the United States but then stop you stone dead with ballads like "Jimmy, My Thousand Charms'', "The Bonnie Labouring Boy'' and "Leaving Glasgow.'' Vocals are the sphere of Geminis Cathal and Christy, who is the youngest member of the band.

Disappointingly, City Hall was half empty last night, and one feels sympathy for the Bermuda Folk Club who are brave enough to bring top talent like the Boys Of the Lough over to the Island.

During the last visit they found the Old Colony Club was too small, but a venue where people could have been a little more intimate with the band, and even danced would have been preferable.

Maybe tonight Bermudians will restore the Folk Club's faith and turn up in numbers for the second and final performance of a band of the highest quality.

ALAN WRIGHT.