Live Review: The Mountain Goats - The Zoo

Tonight's proceedings are launched by the songstress Catherine Traicos, who leaves her Starry Night compatriots at home to tackle her wares solo. Unfortunately the fragility that underpins such a performance is mostly overwhelmed by a crowd that is indifferent, most choosing to either duck out for a smoke break or stand at the bar chatting. Those that crowd the stage though are treated to some elegiac country-inflected tunes that resonate. These songs either need room and reverence for the gaps and silences to breathe, or a band to flesh them out. Traicos isn't blessed with either tonight, yet her endeavours are not wasted, with the devoted few in front of her captivated by her haunting delivery.

John Darnielle and his band The Mountain Goats have carved a devoted fanbase on these southern shores, and it's with much adulation that the crowd roars when they walk on stage. Launching into For Charles Bronson, it is clear from the onset that this is one tight set, filled with numbers that span the breadth of their musical oeuvre. Darnielle is in a fantastic mood as he regales the crowd with the irony inherent in the phrase that drives Old College Try (“I didn't know anyone in college that did much of anything”), and his reticence to introduce newer track The Prowl Great Gain because it involves terrible people doing terrible things. The deft balancing of darkness and light is inherent in both lyricism and instrumentation, seen early as the frailty of You Or Your Memory segues into a rollicking rendition of Jeff Davis County Blues. It isn't long before Darnielle is in solo guise to inhabit these songs on his own, and the brace of songs – We Shall All Be Healed, You Were Cool, The Autoclave and the brilliant Up The Wolves – is an absolute highlight. The band come back together for new songs The Diaz Brothers (the unseen brothers from Scarface who are doomed from the moment Tony Montana knows of their existence) and album title track Transcendental Youth. The festive mood kicks back in with a vengeance as the trio rip through See America Right and Damn These Vampires, before a tempered version of Dance Music and a singalong for Love Love Love brings the house down. Closing out the set with No Children, Darnielle promises never to play it at a wedding, “but I'll gladly be present when you are signing your divorce papers”, the band exit briefly before coming back for 1 Samuel 15:23 (a great tune that also provides the best jam of the night) and the evergreen This Year.