October 27th 2003, and with the Wales rugby team gearing up for their World Cup clash with the All Blacks in Sydney, Max Boyce steps onto the stage of the city's famous Opera House to deliver one of the performances of his life.
Rugby World Cups always amount to a good deal more than the sum of their games, or a list of winners and losers. They inevitably broaden, as their momentum builds into a celebration of the game itself - its vigour, its humour, its spirit and perhaps above all, its friendships. No-one knows how to celebrate these things better than Max.
Max Boyce holds a unique place in the affections of rugby followers as someone whose love for the game - and for Welsh rugby in particular, however it happens to be faring - helps define the kind of entertainer he is and the very special world he invites us to enter.
It's a world audiences have embraced with total delight over three decades of best-selling albums, hit television shows and sell-out live performances. You name it and Max has done it. Now he can add the Sydney Opera House to his list of conquests.
An Evening with Max Boyce:
When screened by BBC Wales at Christmas 1998, An Evening with Max Boyce delivered one of those communal feel-good experiences that some would have us believe television is no longer capable of providing. Something approaching half the adult population watched it and was thrilled to discover an entertainer at the peak of his powers.
Performing for a studio audience packed with his celebrity friends from the world of sport and entertainment, Max demonstrates the full and glorious range of his storytelling talents.