RESCHEDULING their initial date due to illness meant the Crows needed something unique to pacify their throng of unfulfilled ticket holders. Second time lucky and the band did just that, giving an assured performance well worth the wait at a comfortably attended BIC Windsor Hall on Saturday night.

Coalescing the voice of a young David Gray with the songs Elton never quite managed to record, London-bred singer/songwriter Saul Ashby began the evening’s proceedings with his own Fray-like morsels of acoustic pop.

Then, assuming centre stage with a distinct aplomb, the California-based headliners began a nearly two hour-long set which would be shown appreciation the venue over.

A clear musical influence on such modern chart giants as Snow Patrol and Kings Of Leon, the seven-piece phenomenon launched into debut album opener Round Here while front man Adam Duritz exhibited a stage presence comparable to a Shakespearian player acting the soliloquy behind each song.

Top 40 single Mr Jones commanded the attention of everyone present before the band slowed things down with Miller's Angels and Anna Begins.

Accompanied throughout by a well-considered visual display, the group also deployed an eclectic array of carefully chosen instruments from start to finish while delivering a wall-to-wall break-free musical onslaught; the only main-set audience interaction cheekily redeeming a timing blunder during the multi-harmonied Rain King.

All in all, a first-class pop-rock performance which gave an occasional nod in the direction of contemporary rock – indistinguishable from that which shot them to mainstream international fame 15 years ago.