SEASICK Steve shambles on, home-made guitar in hand, and a warm cheer raises the roof. Behind him a giant screen shows his face and that remarkable beard that must stretch to his belly-button.

The sold-out crowd loves this man, he loves us right back, and rarely can an audience have shown such instant warmth to one performer.

Seasick Steve thinks of himself as a folk singer, or so he has said in interviews, but here we think of the blues, rough-rhythm blues hewn out of home-made guitars.

Steve obliges and plays guitars made of hubcaps or an old washboard – the latter being the one-stringed instrument used on Roy’s Gang, the opening track to his fine new album, Sonic Soul Surfer.

The noise Seasick creates with assorted guitars and Animal-like drummer Dan Magnusson is ground-shaking tremendous, yet he has softer moments too. Away from the hard stuff, Seasick has a beautiful voice and as shown on Walkin’ Man (the my-name-is-Steve song, for which he calls on a young woman from the audience).

With a rumble-mumble through that beard, he says: “This song played on the radio for about a week-and-a-half so I guess I can call it my hit”, before launching into Summertime Boy.

Mountain fiddler player Georgina Leach adds some lovely playing to In Peaceful Dreams, and other softer numbers, and comes back on at the end for Seasick’s tremulous take on the Joan Baez classic, Silver Daggers.

Everyone leaves warm-hearted, happy, a little touched, or so it seems, by this man. As for Seasick Steve, launched onto the world by Later With Jools Holland, he seems happy and humble and unbelieving of his luck.

What a tremendous night it was.