The nightmare band finds its redemption

Stranger things have happened: in a venue which has all the charm of a huge cattle shed, The Mavericks transported the audience into Mardi Gras country.

It is, of course, ironic that a band once known as a record company's nightmare has been able in the space of 12 months to jump from the Olympia to the main hall in the RDS.

Initially one would have thought that The Mavericks might have lost something in the transference, and while it took the audience and the band to find their feet and common ground, the end result was actually the opposite.

The change of heart and pace came with both Save A Prayer, a song of redemption dedicated to Bill Clinton ("he needs all the redemption he can get, if you know what I mean," lead singer Raul Malo deadpanned), and I've Got This Feeling, an excellent blend of straight Roy Orbison and skewed country music.

From there on in it was game for a laugh, with The Mavericks merrily mixing rock`n'roll, boogie-woogie, torch`n'twang, Tex Mex, and Beatles-influenced pop to create a human jukebox effect which had most of the audience dancing like fools and sections of the crowd line dancing in perfect synchronisation.

Aside from a two-song solo spot by Raul Malo (a lonesome Fool Number One, and a dreamy Moon River), the pace was acceptably frantic.

The Mavericks may have travelled far from their early days of playing in Miami dive bars, but even in a venue which threatened to engulf them they hit the spot.

Good time music? No - very good time . . .