KODO DRUMMERS/ DONAL LUNNY BAND

KODO DRUMMERS/ DONAL LUNNY BAND (RDS, Dublin)

WHETHER IT’S aerobic fiddlers or polyrhythms of Einstein-proportions, the Kodo Drummers and Donal Lunny’s Band delivered by the bucket-load at the RDS. This is chest-thumping, pelvis-swivelling music, at once alien and spirit-shockingly familiar. We’d been primed by press pics of the Kodo ensemble but nothing could have prepared us for the sheer audacity of their drumming. Displaying split-second timing combined with a physical determination that’s simply inconceivable to most of us Irish slobs, they injected and interjected beats in places we never even knew existed.

As for the contribution of Lunny’s supergroup (Nollaig Casey in full flight, Sharon Shannon at her elfin best and Ray Fean doing an impeccable Animal interpretation on drums), well, at times it was difficult to see where their paths might gainfully cross, but with a rake of new tunes (even one from the enigmatic Tommy Peoples), it was a mighty fine exposé of local if not quite world music.

Oh, and Jean Butler’s footfalls tapped along in time too. And all this of a Tuesday!

• Siobhán Long