http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtSjM3YU7Qw
You could make the argument that this belongs in the Great and Awesome Youtube Thread, but I hope you’ll forgive me once you watch it.
About 1:12 into the clip, Matt Molloy begins to dominate all life on earth with his invincible super powers.
Thanks to Blackwood for finding it.
Indeed. I think you can hear thunder starting to roll in the background… literally.
But who’s that Roger-Daltry-looking individual with the bottle, that’s what I want to know…
M
Well there ya’ are…you’d be hard pressed to say that that young lass, Ms. McAuliffe, is any better than this gent with the white beard. Man, what talent!
And the youtube videos of the mid-70’s Bothy Band with Molloy are amazing as well. Thanks for the link.
AWESOME!
Being mortal sucks!
The man can crack walnuts with his lips!
Yes, who are you Roger-Daltry-looking individual? Who, who? Who, who?
it’s Himself in case you didn’t know.
that’s strange, i didn’t see roger daltry. i saw naked women. wow, matt’s playing really does have magical powers!
yey! i’ve been looking for this video a couple of month ago but i didn’t find it, and finally here it is! thanks for sharing this!!!
and just a personal opinion: matt molloy>kevin crawford 
A personal opinion: too fast.
I prefer this one.
I’m inclined to agree with Gabriel - absolutely stunning technically, and he carries it off, but I suspect he himself would say it was too fast - it certainly subjectively seems faster to me than other renditions of that setting by him I have heard, not that I’ve tried to test that in any scientific way. I wouldn’t list it in my favourite MM performances (if I did such lists!).
Still-an’-all, he was unashamedly showboating! He has more than adequately proven his real musical sensibilities over many years, and if you can, why not occasionally?
Nothing wrong with speed in the right hands - Roger certainly seemed be enjoying it. As Jem says, MM was exuberantly showboating and doing a nice job of it, at that. Of course, he wouldn’t have played at that speed with others trying to play along, nor to relax and enjoy a nice tune by himself. In the context of this concert hall moment, the speed was just fine. Most players - even good ones - usually lose the lift big-time at that tempo, and ruin the music altogether. MM doesn’t, and it’s great to see someone actually speed up as they get older…
What impresses me most is the calm mien he displays as he dishes it out. Rather than pulling a face to show how hard it is, he seems to be almost understating the whole thing. I’m sure Molloy’s got more on tap than he ever lets show. Cheers,
Rob
I have that “Live in Dublin” recording of this, and it doesn’t sound quite as fast to start – in the video, he seems to start tempowise more where he ends up on my recording. Although Paddy Maloney says the same thing at the end of this go, so … :?
But on the audio recording I have he seems to “wind up” the tempo a little more throughout, which I get a kick out of – all that technical exercise plus the lift plus constant tempo ramping, plus …
The guy’s amazing.
And besides. He’s Matt Molloy; he can do what he wants.
Next up: a reinterpretation of this tune with … Martin Hayes. Whaddya think?
My God, at times it sounds as if he’s actually playing accompaniment to himself!
keep in mind that the performance is cut in half. During the concert he actually plays it through twice. They did a very good editing job making it seemless, but when they cut from the band kick-off to his solo performance the speed-up seems unnatural as they immideiately cut to his second time through. He had slowly sped it up during the 1st time he played it through.
That build-up is unfortunately missing.
He does a great job of playing Flatley’s setting of the tune 
Y’all should hear Sean Maguire’s recording of it, on “Milestone at the Garden” and probably others. It’s pretty sweet.
Aha, there’s my answer. Thank you, Sven! The buildup was my favorite thing about it on the audio CD.
Ooh, thanks. I’ve been thinking about searching out some more Sean Maguire stuff. He’s great fun to listen to on the bits I have, especially his duets with his dad on whistle (thank you Mr. C!!!).
Here it is, 2nd tune in the set. I suppose it was a bit flashy back in its day, but it’s pretty sweet and melodic. I’ll leave it up for a day or so.
Here are links to a couple RTÉ programmes about Sean McGuire.