Caught Live: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & The Cairo Gang @ Whelans, Dublin

Ambling onstage with a bath towel wrapped around his head for no particular reason, Will Oldham looks every bit the anti-rock star. With his beard trimmed back to a handlebar moustache that wouldn't look out of place in the WWE, he opens the show with ‘That's What our Love Is’ from his most recent album, the brilliant (despite what others might say!) The Wonder Show Of The World, and the first thing that strikes you is just how amazing his voice sounds live. Having never seen him in concert before, this writer was expecting a moody, maudlin performance, but Oldham can really put on a show, tonight delivering each line of every song with a passion and charisma that borders on the theatrical.

The set consists mainly of tracks from The Wonder Show…, the record he made with his backing band tonight, The Cairo Gang, and lead guitarist Emmett Kelly really has a knack for lifting these songs with fluid and virtuosic playing. He's the perfect foil for Oldham's bewitching songs, and it's easy to see the connection that the two have onstage together.

The highlight of the night arrives in the shape of ‘Go Folks, Go’, the last song before the encore; another track lifted from The Wonder Show, it is essentially a plea from Oldham to the enraptured crowd to live their lives to the full and never give up. Amid songs of love spurned and lost, it’s a touching moment that has most of the Whelans crowd singing along to every word; one fan near the front has even brought her own red paper hearts, which she throws onstage at Oldham. The band finish with a rocking cover of ‘Price Of Love’ by The Everly Brothers, and Oldham thanks us again for coming, before telling us all how much he loves this venue. Judging by the crowd’s reaction, it will be too long a wait until he plays here again. It really was a…‘royal’ performance (sorry!).