‘Four songs mate’, grunts the dreadlocks when I enquire as to how long Asaf Avidan and the Mojos have been on.  This Israeli-hailing mob must be the only band to come on before the scheduled time; thankfully they’re much more than a four-song band and put on a belting shoe for this crowd that hangs on Asaf’s every word.

The man himself has a stage presence that would teach a lesson to every Dom, Dick and Frankie that seem to view their gigs as little more than an opportunity to gel their quiff up and ponce around like c*nts.  He’s bigger than I thought, chatty with a slightly scratchier delivery on record- a probable result of being in the midst of a European tour that has still to take in over 30 dates across the continent.

‘Her Lies’ is an early highlight, unsurprising as it is one of the strongest songs of their debut album, The Reckoning.  The volume ramps up on either side of the main man as he cries deep into his microphone and I write ‘guitars to the sky’ into my phone to describe the moment (if anyone could actually explain what ‘guitars to the sky’  means I’d really appreciate it, and please, be gentle).  The big bald men around lose their edge and go wild with extravagant shape-making, tuneless lipsynching and it’s all about the music, man.

After this comes one of many new songs which, in general are not quite as well received;  perhaps expected given that most of their Brit fans will have latched onto the band fairly late (in relation to the fact that The Reckoning was released in 2008), and it strikes as something of a mistake to have tried to blood so many unheard tracks to followers that were seeing them for the first time.  Regardless of the fact we don’t know them they are still good if at times verging into commercial radio territory; this one with a jumpy country riff before a Led Zep breakdown in the middle.  Like The Reckoning the gig divides itself between moments of acoustic ticker-tugging and these slashing, crashing rock symphonies when everyone on the stage leaps, leans and grins their way through another extended whizz-bang.

He asks what the crowd want to hear, obviously hoping not to hear the obvious crowdpleasers thrown back at him- ‘Weak!’ ‘Ghost Before The Wall!’  He looks a little disappointed, like a forlorn Rick Astley who’s desperate to just for once sing something different .  ‘Okay, we’ll do one of Weak or Ghost Upon The Wall.’  Thankfully he chooses ‘Ghost...’ ( my favourite song) and though it doesn’t quite scale the heights of the first time I heard it and got truly shivered, it still brings the house down.

 The real bravo moment is saved for final song ‘Devils Dance’ , however, which he plays just with the celloist and his acoustic.  His voice and her mournful playing become engaged in a battle over who’s going to make us all weep first (he jokes that she’s a show-off at one point) and the two play off each other as he whispers ‘dance little devil, dance’ into the microphone, before he hangs his head and a  grateful crowd erupt into a blaze of whoops and hollers.  A little cheesy they may be, but who cares when it’s this good?

Posted In Live Reviews, May 27 2010. Words - David