Max Boyce Live, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff

WHAT better way of celebrating a Welsh rugby win than with an evening in the company of Max Boyce?

The legendary performer has launched his latest tour to coincide with the 2019 Rugby World Cup and his biggest date – at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff – just happened to be hours after Wales beat Uruguay to earn their place in the quarter-final.

So that meant that the sell-out crowd were already in good spirits when they arrived at the 1,900-seater venue.

The show was opened by comedian Rod Woodward, who also acted as MC for the evening.

The Cardiff funnyman – who has previously been on the bill of the Royal Variety Performance – had fans lapping up his wry observations on life, including shopping for a suit with his wife, dealings with a difficult Italian waiter and a ride on one of the country’s biggest rollercoasters with his elderly grandad (not a good idea by all accounts).

Following the injection of comedy, we were entertained by Welsh singer Bronwen Lewis who was a contestant on The Voice – and what a voice she has. It’s not too much of an exaggeration to compare her to Adele. Pitch perfect, her powerful voice was simply stunning as she gave her own Welsh take on popular numbers like Sting’s Fields of Gold and Ed Sheeran’s Perfect as well as performing some original material. And she proved what a great musician she is too as she performed on both keyboard and guitar.

After an interval it was time for the main man himself and Max Boyce bounded onto the stage singing Welsh favourite Sosban Fach before entertaining us for around 90 minutes with songs and banter.

While I’d heard parts of his routine before, it had been refreshed to incorporate lines on topical issues like Thomas Cook and, of course, the Rugby World Cup.

He may have celebrated his 70th birthday but Max is a bundle of energy and whipped from one musing to the next in lightning speed. It would have been nice to have had a few more songs during the evening but Hymns and Arias was, unsurprisingly, a highlight with fans joining in.

A feelgood night out that was the perfect way to celebrate a Welsh victory.