Beirut @ HMV Picture House, 22 Aug

“I fuckin’ love you Zach!” shouts one punter near the end of Beirut’s stunning performance tonight. “Ah luv yi too!” responds the slight, tousle-haired frontman in his best Scottish brogue. It’s a brash, hilarious exchange that flies in the face of the sublime set and reveals Zach Condon as being precocious but far from pretentious.

From the opening brass of Nantes, through a beautiful Postcards from Italy to the rousing finale of Gulag Orkestar, not a moment here is wasted. Underpinned by some propulsive and mightily impressive drumming that gives these songs a live edge, Beirut’s melancholic home listening experience is turned into a Balkan-infused celebration, proving the old maxim that misery loves company. Among the sold-out crowd are several members of Broken Records, a band who have more than doffed their cap to Condon and his troupe in the past. Much like the rest of us, they no doubt leave elated at a humbling lesson from the master. [Darren Carle]