While Brooklyn's San Fermin are an eight-piece - all fitting neatly onto the stage at the recently-redesigned and more open Hope And Ruin - their numerical advantage translated not just into additional volume.

Instead, the combination of trumpet, saxophone, a male and female vocal duo, violin, keyboard, guitar and surreptitiously complex drum beats led the way through an ultimately undefinable collection of genres.

Driven by the jazz influence of the brass and rhythm section, the band weaved through soul, indie, folk and R'n'B, without ever settling on any one sound.

Singer Allen Tate had a laid-back baritone strongly reminiscent of The National's Matt Berninger, contrasting with the more urgent vocals of his female counterpart Charlene Kaye.

The result was confusing - no reference points remained true for long, despite temporary elicitations of Lambchop, Tindersticks, and even the powerhouse ballads of Beyonce - but never confused.

The technical prowess of the band, coupled with their power and enthusiasm, created a bewildering and breathtaking spectacle, both relaxed yet strung out with an energetic tension.

Never short of ideas, the band concluded with an audacious, manic cover of Weezer's Buddy Holly that somehow made a simple pop song sound like an ocean of music falling down the stairs – in a good way.

Five stars