Celebrating their tenth anniversary and with a new label and new album, there's something of a celebratory feel in this austere hall tonight, a collective embracing of the six players on stage.
Opening with 'Sweet Release' from new album 'Can Our Love..' is not as a bold move as it would be for other bands. Here, everyone's in on the secret and sways along to David Boulter's bubbling organ and Dickon Hinchliffe's mournful violin.
Frontman Stuart Staples lets those velvet tones seep out as he clutches the mic stand, lost in his own personal reverie. The band mix old favourites with tracks from the new album in a beguiling mix. The back-to-back placing of singles 'City Sickness' and 'Marbles' draws a rapturous response.
Even a fluffed beginning to the new album's title track can't detract from the strength of the performance, if anything it's even more endearing. The funkier, more upbeat 'People Keep Comin' Around' is also a welcome shift in gear from the band's trademark melancholy.
They end the main set with 'Chilitetime', Staples letting his mournful tale out over the almost funereal organ and the weeping guitar and violin. After a two-song encore, it's all over but it's tears of joy that are the order of the day.
