Artists: Saw Doctors

Venue: Holmfirth Picturedrome

Review by: Barry Gibson

JUDGING by the touts selling tickets outside the Picturedrome, the Saw Doctors can still pull a crowd.

The Holmfirth venue was packed to the rafters for the gig by the Irish band, who are still going strong after nearly a quarter of the century.

And they can still bash out a tune, running through some old favourites like Tommy K and the Green and Red of Mayo.

But, unlike some other bands in their third decade together, the Saw Doctors don’t rest on their laurels.

They perform a couple of new songs – As The Light Fades and An Indian Summer, a song about a drunken festival in Co Clare last year.

Like many Saw Doctors tunes, it combines their two great loves – alcohol and the West of Ireland.

The spirited performance is appreciated by the large crowd in the Picturedrome – especially the middle-aged man dressed as the Pope dancing on his friend’s shoulders.

The band come out for a long encore, including a rip-roaring performance of N17 – probably the greatest song ever written about a trunk road.

Fair play to the Saw Doctors for having such energy for live performances after so many years on the road.