THE Band Room up the dale was awash with anniversaries… and with assorted Yorkshire pod members of morsbags.com distributing free shopping bags made from recycled curtains.

The twisted country music of The Handsome Family duo of Brett and Rennie Sparks is very much in keeping with those bags: no plastic in sight but a renewal of traditional materials in a new guise, in their case the darkest hues of gothic noir.

Playing Low Mill has become a tradition too for the New Mexico couple. As denoted by the poster on the back wall, last Saturday’s gig was the tenth anniversary of their first visit, and their fourth in all, during promoter Nigel Burnham’s 15 years at The Band Room.

Love, whether gory or in full glory, was already in the air in the weirdly wonderful story-telling folk blues of Manchester’s Liz Green, before Brett and Rennie – supplemented by Stephen Dorocke and Jason Toth on guitar and drums – dug deep into romance rooted in nature and mystery on Honey Moon, their new album written in celebration of 20 years of marriage.

Far from the first flush of love of The Beatles’ innocent early steps, these were love songs to the left of Johnny Cash or Nick Cave’s ballads, tales of love both undying and dying in the all-consuming praying-mantis passion of Darling, My Darling.

It was both beautiful and ever so slightly scary at the same time, much like the dale in a lightning storm.