...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead @ Òran Mór, 17 April

From smashing guitars to plucking sitars; since splitting their fanbase neatly down the middle with the perceived apathy of 2006's So Divided and the lackluster tour that followed it, all bets were off when it came to anticipating ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's next move. But from the opening bars of the lush Giants Causeway it's obvious that Òran Mór is about to witness the worm turn. The energised vocal sparring between Conrad Keely and Jason Reece during Far Pavilions warms the cockles before the epic Isis Unveiled finds the crowd in thrall of the sextet's knack for melding ethereal scale wandering with pure rock fury. Not to be outdone, Another Morning Stoner and a sprawling rendition of Totally Natural are embraced like old friends whereas Caterwaul becomes a pogo dance too irresistible to sit out. You could say it's finally coming together, in relative ways. [Johnny Langlands]