Ben Howard, The Junction, Cambridge

What surprises me about tonight is the predomination of badass lager-ed up loons quipping funny remarks and ‘hell yeah’s towards the bare, pared-back stage. This isn’t Dizzee at the Corn Ex c. 2008; this is a folk gig. Completely out of the blue, an almost overwhelming vim and force engulf the inevitable singalongs that ensue.

Warm-up Brother & Bones - aka Rich Thomas – impresses in a weird, unexpected sort of way. An act’s dress code is often the counterpart to their sound, and Rich in fact resembles one of the scarier, more hirsute members of Nickelback. Indeed his vocals, in their oft-overwrought, occasionally naff and MOR kinda way, mean they’re not sonically dissimilar either. But that’s where the comparisons end. There’s the odd trite lyricism (‘sticks and stones / skin and bones’), but the rest is all intricate guitar thrums, beauteous slow’uns and untimely headbanging. One clear standout is ‘Here Comes The Storm’ which starts out like a down-tempo Black Mountain or Sleepy Sun jam but subsequently morphs into a frenzied, frenetic barre chord orgy, turning nearly every head in the garrulous, jam-packed room.

Half an hour later, minimalism is still the idea. This time it’s our headliner and his set-up is, as expected, bare-bones. Forgotten non-album track ‘Depth Over Distance’ is the first played: Howard percussively taps his guitar on his lap whilst two backing multi-instrumentalists’ eerie coos entwine. It’s an odd touchstone for contemporary singer-songwriters to consider (Benjamin Francis Leftwich is a also self-professed enthusiast) but this tune’s overwrought climax is so, so, so David Gray; it’s oddly haunting.

Predictably, it’s the singles which later incite the most ‘oo-aah’s from the loud, gaping crowd (including myself and comrades): be it a swooning paean to a tree (‘Old Pine’), the one-off addition of Rich Thomas on ‘Keep Your Head Up’ (“world première right there”) or the expectedly delightful ‘The Wolves’, in which the inevitable mis-claps a minute or so before the end really amuse. The subsequent call and response outro is an apt finale to the main set.

They end the encore with an electrified ‘The Fear’, and its nigh-on tinnitus-inducing rock ‘n’ roll. With a beefy posture, hand position and Fender strat, Ben leaves us with an image reminiscent of yesteryear Springsteen: brilliant, startling, powerful. Indeed, at this time of year when we’re all compiling geeky hierarchical lists denoting musical quality, we may have just been swayed to nudge him up a rank or two.