It’s a good few years since I was an habitué of the London folk scene but the opportunity to see LAU in an entirely acoustic setting drew me back.

That the performance was superb is almost predictable; three of folk’s top musicians playing together could hardly be less so. That the three musicians appear to have so much regard for each other and that there is so much equality throughout the trio is a bonus. Unlike other 'supergroups’ the three genuinely seem to be playing together to develop something they cannot do individually and while each of them seems to contribute an equal share there was no sense that compromises were made to make an even spread.

The Club was packed to the walls and, with all due respect to the regular performers, there was a buzz of anticipation for Lau. When they stepped up on to the tiny stage they seemed to fill the space more than the six piece house band and within moments the audience was entranced by the first of a number of Reels featuring all three members. A heart-wrenching version of 'Butcher Boy’ followed, highlighting Kris’ vocals and demonstrating absolute power over the audience; normally there is a continuous buzz of conversation at a London show ' here there was absolute silence. Stories accompanied many of the tunes, sometimes surreal in nature ' an extremely large rabbit beating up on a small yappy dog at a barbeque ' and sometimes just illustrating the origins of the Scottish islands and regions of which the band are proud but always letting the audience in to where the songs came from. Here were three friends, enjoying playing with each other and captivating the audience with some magnificent licks and when they return to London I will look forward to picking up this relationship just where it left off.