Alabaster DePlume @ The Hub, Edinburgh, 8 Aug

The Hub is an ideal location to foster the sort of community spirit that Alabaster DePlume seems to derive his very essence from. The stalls comprise bean bags and settees and nothing divides audience and band apart from a few rugs strewn together. DePlume bounces onstage covered in Middle Eastern prayer rugs and keffiyehs, along with an astrological sarong to cap off the look. An instantly magnetising presence, he waxes lyrical between songs all night, mostly to pay tribute to the beautiful audience and encourage us to go forward in the courage of our love.

Each of the six or seven songs tonight builds from a foundation of an existing song, but often veers into improvisational territory around DePlume's saxophone vamping before his spoken word interludes bring things back on course (even though they also frequently turn into him riffing on whatever thoughts are going through his head at the time).

Thank You My Pain is the opener and introduces the unique setup that is employed for each song; joining DePlume on sax is Seb Rochford on percussion, Rozi Plain on bass and Mikey Kenney providing wordless vocalisation. The latter facet in particular is a fascinating addition that ups the spiritual edge of music that's already heavy with emotional resonance.

Image: Alabaster DePlume @ The Hub, Edinburgh, 8 Aug by Andrew Perry for Edinburgh International Festival

Broken Like encapsulates the DePlume mantra of a damaged society that can only be saved when we rise up in empathy and compassion, recognising our effervescent beauty and agency. DePlume follows it by praising the Edinburgh International Festival and the way it brings people together, though he condemns its partnership with Baillie Gifford, given its ties to Israel. And this segues neatly into the more overtly political material of the evening as DePlume mixes conversations captured recently in Ramallah (sent to him by a friend) into the next song.

Each song is well-crafted and the band have a clear understanding of the detours that DePlume is likely to take and are more than willing to follow him down his respective rabbit holes. However, this approach reaches its limitations in the final song of the evening, where Eva (from the venue staff) joins the band on sitar for a loose, meandering jam that doesn't have the precision and grounding of the others. It's a shame as it's a lovely gesture and testament to the generous spirit of DePlume, but it just doesn't have the same power. That said, it can't dampen what is an excellent performance in a perfect location – a uniquely uplifting spectacle.

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Edinburgh International Festival runs until 24 Aug

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