IN MANY ways this was a memorable gig, all the more so for being unexpected.

In previous York shows, the loose conglomerate that is the Willard Grant Conspiracy, orbiting around the singing mass of Robert Fisher, failed to really connect with the audience.

This time was very different. The band normally revels in their folk, jazz and country roots, but this time around the loose limbed jams of Neil Young and Crazy Horse were the presiding influence.

Premiering new material, the show started with the musical equivalent to a blow to the solar plexus, as the band roared into action with the apocalyptic Let It Roll. Stretching out with a fervour, the six piece gave a stunning demonstration of musical togetherness, as convincing as 16 Horsepower or The Band in their dark possessed prime. The musicians were in motion throughout, running through a varied set that actually grabbed the attention.

At the centre of it all was Fisher. With his long grey beard, he looked every inch the Old Testament rock.

Whether playing a slow, corrosively sad number like The Suffering Song, or with one arm swinging to the garage rock of Sticky, he was never less than authentic.

The deep voice, the urban cousin to the wracked whiskey growl of promising opener William Elliott Whitmore, stamped the performance with both consistency and personality. Where stagecraft had been lacking in the past, here humour and musicianship combined for a show whose intensity will linger in the memory.

Updated: 09:58 Saturday, April 23, 2005