Necktr @ The Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 20 Sep

Entering the Soup Kitchen basement always feels like stepping a little bit outside of yourself. No matter how well you know the band playing, or how many times you've seen them before, there's no real telling what will happen on its dimly lit stage on any given night.

The eclectic and mesmerising Necktr, a nine-piece band from Leeds, can barely fit onto it. Bringing with them a variety of instruments including trombone and trumpet they fill the stage utterly, and what little space they leave is consumed by the artwork they project onto the stage. Those who haven't seen them before could be forgiven for wondering how such a group can possibly hope to make the set-up work, but rest assured they do. Despite the pounding rain outside, Necktr take their audience somewhere warm and tropical with a fusion of Afrobeats, jazz, hip-hop and groove.

With tracks such as Tracing Paper bringing the audience into a swaying, shoulder-rolling state of bliss, the beautifully understated bass supplied by Patrick Hand and tightly controlled drums from Tim Cook and Greg Burns guide the momentum of the nonet. The soul of each track is distinct but the contemporary jazz brought in via Max Purcell-Burrows on trombone and Poppy William-Daniels on trumpet tie the performance together.

The band have a whimsical onstage chemistry that is aided by not one, but two guitars played with easy harmony by Seb Knee-Wright and Christian Veitch; and accomplished rapper Nix Ward, also on keys. Elegant vocals from lead singer, Esme Bridie urge us not to go dreaming through all of the beautiful moments and it's advice to be heeded despite the dreamlike quality of this band's exceptional performance.