The “friends” part of Sam Lee’s show was evidently very important to the man at the centre of it. Lee is so friendly with Thomas McCarthy, ostensibly the night’s support act, that his first move was to announce that their sets would be blended together.

It was a wise decision. McCarthy, a singer from an Irish travelling family, opened proceedings with a selection of unaccompanied ballads, sung with character and passion. Throughout the night his songs provided an earthy counterpoint to Lee and his band’s rich, complex traditional arrangements.

It’s not every day you hear an Aberdeenshire folk song featuring tabla and koto (a Japanese zither), but the multi-instrumental troupe carried it off beautifully. With his mellow, strong voice, Lee led them through a jazzy Phoenix Island, before persuading the audience to sing a melodic outro.

The evening was one of contrasts, with the dramatic, menacing Jew’s Garden followed by heartfelt love song Tan Yard Side (in which violinist Laurel Pardue used her instrument to mimic a nightingale) and the devastatingly bleak Black Dog And Sheep-Crook.

But no matter what the tone, each song felt perfectly judged and delivered. Lee and co left with an entire audience of new friends.