Altan’s Irresistible Style Updates Irish Folk Traditions

Hearing the Irish group Altan kick off a concert is a bit like experiencing the start of a drag race. With violinists Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh and Ciaran Tourish taking the lead, the five-piece ensemble generates an almost relentless surge of musical energy.

That’s precisely what happened Friday at UCLA’s Royce Hall when Altan offered up a richly varied, 2 1/2-hour set before enthusiastic fans.

The Donegal band has changed considerably over the past decade and a half--and dramatically so since co-founder Frankie Kennedy’s death in the early ‘90s. But the current lineup (with Ciaran Curran on bouzouki, Dermot Byrne on accordion and Daithi Sproul on guitar) has jelled into a solidly entertaining ensemble. The sheer rhythmic drive of the jigs and reels performed by the two-violin front line, the pristine vocals of Ni Mhaonaigh and the lovely individual solo efforts from Curran, Byrne and Sproul, were the products of performers who have managed to transform the traditional music of their Irish heritage into an eminently contemporary-sounding expression.

Altan was joined for the final few numbers by Bonnie Raitt (who also performs on the group’s new album, “Another Sky”), and their combined Irish folk-song version of Bob Dylan’s “Girl From the North Country” crowned an evening that confirmed the irresistible wiles of Irish music.