This was one of those remarkable concerts that was both a hugely fun event, and a musically enriching experience. The Lone Bellow exactly pinned down the balance between giving the crowd the chance to dance, and playing slow songs designed to wash over the audience in a jaw-droppingly blissful harmonic wave.

The Lone Bellow began as a trio, but appeared as a full and rich-sounding quintet. At their roots, they are a soft folk band who hold vocal harmonies at their core. At this they excel, singing in four-part harmonies through most of their set. Even this can (paradoxically) become monotonous over the course of an hour, but the band kept it fresh by allowing each musician flexibility of style. The lead guitar Brian Elmquist played by turns slow and sensitive melodies, and a fuzzy rhythm guitar laden with rock & roll overtones for the more energetic parts of the concert. For these sections of the set, the sound was more thumping rock with acoustic backing, instantly accessible and irresistibly danceable.

The only female member of the band, Kanene Donehey Pipkin, began on keys but moved between bass and mandolin, allowing the band to experiment with more instruments than they had members. Her voice cut through the harmonies, a precursor to one section of the performance where she sang lead: for three songs, the core trio of the band huddled around one microphone for a slow and beautiful performance. For the duration, the crowd leaned in silently as if to hear a story told in a whisper: and stories their songs were, flowing histories and dreams told through voices in perfect unison.

Lead singer Zach Williams was great with the audience, often funny and usually romantic: he stated early on that he hoped someone would fall in love at the concert, and then relentlessly encouraged the crowd to make moves and slowdance. It was definitely bizarre, but in fairness to him, if there’s any music to fall in love to, it would be The Lone Bellow’s.

His other interactions with the audience were in the capacity of conductor. He didn’t hesitate to use their voices as well as the band members’, to surprisingly forceful effect. On the whole his efforts with the audience paid off, adding the depth of a choir to some of the songs – although he may have gotten drunk with power at one point, clearly enjoying switching the crowd on and off with the swish of a hand.

Among their encore was new single ‘Then Came The Morning’, which came out as a true triumph and unforgettable musical moment. For this, Williams called back on the support act, vocal trio Joseph, and split the audience into a two-part harmony. Credit to the audience – they sang beautifully, and the effect was intensely powerful. The other song in the encore, ‘Make You Love Me’, was entirely stripped back: on stage were six voices and one guitar, which finally dropped to no guitar. This is a very special thing to witness, and the audience were enraptured by the intimacy and emotionality of the experience. This was truly not a gig that you can see every day, and would have been worth far more than the £12 that a ticket cost.