Celtic Connections: Punch Brothers, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 23 January

Punch Brothers march professionally in like it was the 50s backstage – waistcoats, stiff ironed collars and sleek oiled hair, mothers would be proud of their prim boys. Starstruck screams puncture the air as Chris Thile utters his first word but shame we can’t hear much else – a technical hitch sees the entire band without amplification: ‘Well this is awkward!’ Nevertheless they launch into something that those of us at the back will never know. Sound technicians deal with their worst nightmare whilst the first few rows enjoy an exclusive acoustic preview.

Back on track, they bash out a string of hits from Who’s Feeling Young Now to keep the fans tamed. Paul Kower boasts a speed driven bass solo during trad Swedish-gone Bluegrass tune Flippen – shape or size of instrument is no handicap in this band. Everything is performed with total studio precision and we’re questioning their mortality. Movement and Location, and Wayside, especially catch the zing we crave from the live experience.

We’re tormented with snippets from new venture The Phosphorescent Blues, which is just days from release after three years of silence. Prepare for bluegrass reinventions of Claude Debussey’s Passepied in line with Thile’s solo Bach album of a few years back. More popular infusions see Familiarity rhythmically tease: ‘dun dun dun another one bites the...’ incredibly blending it with their most emotionally transcendent and soulful song yet; ‘Amen’ resounds on repeat. This band really has no reputation to earn, GRCH’s chairs are close to collapsing in the collective swing; it feels like Thile could give a solo rendition of Twinkle Twinkle and the crowd would still go wild.