Wow. Now that's what I call a gig. Ears ringing, feet throbbing, hands sore. And happy. The Mavericks returned to town, rounded up the willing fans and the reluctant stragglers and eventually got everybody to "dance the night away".
It wasn't a shoe-in however. For about an hour it was touch and go whether this superb US band of many genres would raise the roof. Singer Raul Malo and his three amigos, Robert Reynolds (bass), Nick Kane (guitar) and Paul Deakin (drums), augmented by regular keyboardist and manic dancer, Jerry Dale McFadden, plus back-up singer Jaime Hanna and the four-piece Havana Horns, rattled through their new album, Trampoline, pausing occasionally for a deadly ballad or two such as Malo's stunning solo slot with Dream River. But the audience seemed reluctant to join in the party, preferring to soak in the waves of 50s and 60s inspired music.
To a point this is understandable. The Mavericks twist and turn through so many different styles - country, Texas swing, gospel, Tex-Mex, r & b, 60s pop, romantic ballads and more - that just keeping up with the references is a job in itself. This, however, is not an academic exercise. A sense of humour and fun permeates the music while Malo's "golden voice", as Reynolds correctly termed it, is full of warmth and intensity.
Yet it wasn't until the band delved into their back catalogue that the audience began to really respond. Malo's wonderfully dramatic Spanish ballad started the fire and within seconds it had caught hold throughout the house as tracks like "Here Comes the Rain" and the raucous "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down" followed in rapid succession. From then on it was standing room only as the band turned up the heat.