The audience replied with loud applause when he announced the opening act - Irish singer songwriter Roesy and the Seisiun.
Roesy lifted his guitar, introduced himself with some soft-spoken Irish humour and launched the evening with a series of ballads, telling tales of life and learning as the capacity crowd sat and took in the twin delights of the music and the unique and intriguing Spiegeltent.
For most it was their first time in the travelling venue - the Famous Spiegeltent - although Roesy has performed in it before, in New York. The antique "tent of mirrors" has been touring the globe for 95 years but this was its first time in Hawke's Bay, and the audience seemed enthralled at the sensation of being surrounded by velvet, mirrors and bevelled glass as the late-evening light filtered through stained-glass windows.
Roesy sang, gently joked and shared a tale or two, his voice mellow, his songs melodic and moreish. After a few tunes, he was joined by the Seisiun musicians: Irishmen Pat Coyne (guitar and vocals), Stephen Doherty (flute, whistle, melodon and bodhran), David Doocey (fiddle and concertina), and Kiwi musician and songwriter Andrew Laking (double bass, guitar, vocals).
The sound intensified, soaring into the velvet tenting and coming back down deeper and richer as the musicians expanded on the ballad theme, added some reels both new and traditional, and blew us away with their command of both voice and instrument. David Doocey's fiddle playing tears at the heart-strings, Stephen Doherty's flute is expressive and evocative, and Andrew Laking's double bass added an extra depth.
The reels heralded the arrival on stage of Irish dancers Liam Scanlon and Charlene Morrison, giving the floor a workout with traditional sean nos dancing - using the floorboards to batter out the rhythms led by the musicians' flying fingers.
When Stephen Doherty picked up the bodhran drum the audience leaned forward in their seats, as the drum challenged the dancers and the dancers the drum, urging each other to faster and more complex feats as the audience cheered and clapped.
The acoustics in the spiegeltent are superb, the velvet and glass enrichens the tones, the clarity is astonishing. It's so easy to forget how transporting live music, played well, can be. In the Famous Spiegeltent this week, with Roesy and the Seisiun, 350 people were reminded of that. And over the next two weeks, the magic will continue.
