The brilliant Elbow bought their musical and storytelling genius to the BIC on Wednesday night and delighted a capacity crowd with a masterclass in how to deliver an evening of pure entertainment.

Perhaps I was just in a good spot but a sure sign of this was the lack people standing around chatting and ignoring the band (my pet hate).

Everyone in the venue was intent on catching every word and hearing every note.

Guy Garvey is such a great performer who engages with the crowd and holds them in the palm of his hand throughout the gig.

He is not loud or flash but relies on an understated manner that makes the arena seem much smaller and intimate than it actually is so that you could almost be having a chat with him over a coffee.

Of course this is a proper band we are seeing tonight and Craig Potter, Mark Potter and Pete Turner provided the solid base that allows the front man to do his thing, I don't think they missed a note all night and the show was the success that it was mainly down to this.

The set list comprised of songs from their entire career with new material thrown in for good measure.

The genius of the songs is that they are about everyday subjects and were written whilst doing everyday things such as "siting on a train" but seem so much more, as though you could unlock the secrets of life itself if only you could listen a bit harder.

Whereas in reality they are probably just about people going about their lives doing everyday things.

Special mention should go to an outstanding version of Lippy Kids and the fact that the main set concluded with the best ending to a gig I have seen for a long time with a band & crowd version of One Day Like This.

Such was the crowd's appetite to soak up as much as they could even the normal stream of people leaving during the encore was more of a trickle than the normal rush!

This was a special night that I am sure will remain with everyone there for a long long time.