Before last Saturday, my exposure to Irish folk music was limited, despite even being part Irish.

It was my father’s excitement at an evenings entertainment provided by Connla, a diverse five-piece band with several awards to their name, which compelled me to attend.

The quintet first appeared on stage after a respectable performance from Annym, the support act for the evening.

As one would expect from an Irish folk concert, storytelling was integral to the performance; and with a strong and passionate instrumental presence from Connla, plus a diverse musical programme, this intended atmosphere I think was invoked quite well.

The awards allocated to the band include New Best Group of the Year, by the Irish American News, and Best New Group Title, by Live Ireland Awards.

From their new album River Waiting, some very promising tracks were performed, including Enchanted - which features some quite decorative and innovative melodies.

A work that provided considerable contrast with the programme was Garden Valley, released on their first album EP. This work is a sensual and mellow song, and at a pace much more sedate to the music with a more traditional jig/reel structure.

Admittedly, I found the songs more accessible than their more traditional works.

The musicians certainly demonstrated great skill when performing some of the more fast-paced dances (particularly whistle player Ciaran Carlin) though for me there was a question of how suitable such music is for a seated concert - to be fair, we were on numerous occasions pressed to dance, but none dared, except two experienced Irish dancers who tried their best to encourage us!

While it is evident that Connla’s ticket to wider appeal rests in their more contemporary styled songs, this night was also about Celtfest, for which they delivered a quality finale to the celebrated festival.

Markus Boyd