Eliza Carthy

Despite both being major 'real' folk stars and acclaimed instrumentalists, Sharon Shannon and Eliza Carthy aren't obvious touring partners and this double bill of their full-band shows is braver than an outsider might guess.

More than simply coming from different traditions, the two live sets presented tonight have entirely opposing functions: Eliza is here to tell tales, while Sharon came to make us boogie. And while tonight may favour the latter (in an intimate standing-only venue plonked in the middle of a sit-down theatre tour) It's the former who's far more enjoyable. Give DiS those English folk songs any time, they're all about listening.

Eliza's band, The Ratcatchers, is a fiercesome bunch of players. But it's an overall wall-of-warmth that counts, over and above the individual solos - of which there are mercifully few. OK, there's a few jigs'n'reels dotted amongst the dark tales. But as Eliza says, these merely "cleanse the palette" before they dive into another evocative, miserable ballad. And anyway, half of them are the atmospheric, slower-paced morris dances.

They've just added a tuba to oompah around the lower tones, giving them a rich ensemble feel that sounds fuller than five musicians would suggest. Ms Carthy herself is on excellent, cheerful form - she laughs loud and often tonight and the soundman even turns her mic off when she mocks him. If there's a negative, it's the set length. There wasn't any clock-watching, but it felt like less than an hour.

Sharon Shannon's trio has a simpler remit. They introduce a dance, then play it. Winding up towards some blistering climactic moments and weaving individual virtuosity into lovely patterns. But they didn't soundcheck after arriving late, so it's a unbalanced start and, oddly, Sharon** has placed herself on the right hand side, faced inwards, instead of in the middle. Thus it's hard to get a good view of her famous squeezebox finger-work. These small flaws take the edge off and boredom creeps in after four 'sets'. The crowd is loving it though, with hearty appetite, so it's undoubtedly DiS' fault rather than Sharon's.

Either of these acts could easily sell out this venue. Maybe, despite the noble intentions of feeding us such riches in one hot night, it wasn't such a great idea.