Alabama 3 - although Brixton 9 is more accurate - brought their genre-defying “punk-rock, blues and country, techno situationist, crypto-Marxist-Leninist electro pop band”, including acid-house and gospel, to a sold-out Duchess.

They are known for an electrifying live act; the crowd were visibly excited.

York-based Boss Caine, with some traditional Americana, and singer-songwriter Claire Nicholson whetted appetites. The long wait that followed felt like the quiet before the storm.

Thunderous bass and a maelstrom of eclectic electronic sounds announced their opener, “Bulletproof” and the arrival of Larry Love with his gravelly baritone and The Very Reverend Dr D. Wayne Love with feigned Southern American drawl and penchant for politicallycharged sermons. Aurora Dawn’s soulful, enticing voice was also heard in the squall, like a Greek Siren.

With Alabama 3, seeing really is believing: their exhilarating and frenetic navigation of wave after wave of diverse musical genres displayed a volatile, absorbing energy.

Fan favourites “Hypo Full of Love”, “Speed to the Sound of Loneliness” and the compulsory “Woke Up This Morning” were performed with surprising freshness while the toxic “Too Sick to Pray” and stentorian “Up Above My Head” buffeted the walls.

A splenetic burst of their radical politics saw “Woody Guthrie” with adapted lyrics, the funky “Vietnamistan”, and “Mao Tse Tung Said” played consecutively.

The evening was irresistibly addictive and genuinely uplifting. After the compelling power of the storm everything became calm once again, symbolised sublimely by the second encore: Larry Love’s solo of “Peace in the Valley”.