IF there is an artist who deserves the epithet "Troubadour", it’s Christy Moore. The Irish folk giant has been performing and recording for almost 50 years, playing thousands of times.

He has survived alcoholism and drug use, rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous, and appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. Now 73, Moore is a small but solid presence, with a bald head, and a workmanlike approach to performing.

The set was dominated by mid-tempo ballads, but the flavours varied, with touches of humour, and enough Moore standards to keep the crowd happy. There were covers of Ewan MacColl’s The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and a happy. if unseasonal, reading of The Pogues Fairytale Of New York, with Moore reeling off a spoken-word tribute to Shane MacGowan

Political references occurred throughout; Hiroshima; Irish volunteers in the Spanish Civil War; the deaths of cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay, and the trials of unemployment in The Ballad Of An Ordinary Man. Folk music always longs for a better world.

The intimacy of this gig was exceptional. Moore and the band transformed the Barbican from a vast room; it felt like being in somebody’s lounge. The sensitivity of the percussion and fiddle was astonishing. "You make it so easy when you listen like that," Moore said at one point, but it was music that invited listening, following the most important guideline: less is more.

Closing with his signature tune, Ride On, and a brisk cover of Jackson Browne’s After The Deluge, Moore left the stage, pausing to pose for a photo with a young fan. A lovely, humane touch. Terrific stuff.

Miles Salter