★★★★

Effervescent and giddy, musical director Vanessa Thomas could not always control which thoughts to say out loud and which to keep in her head.

"This choir is hot," she blurted out and she wasn’t kidding.

More than 100 choir members were squeezed on to the stage behind her and in front a packed-out audience.

Somehow, Vanessa had full command of the whole thing.

This non-auditioned, inclusive choir may have thought they were beginners to singing and music. They were, however, expertly manipulated into performing quite complicated things without them realising.

They produced outstanding acapella versions of Pompeii by Bastille and 500 Miles by The Proclaimers with five-part harmonies and wonderful dynamics.

They launched into disco numbers Boogie Wonderland and Boogie Nights and with limited space they needed to be boogying in the same direction.

Vanessa, however, had got so lost in the boogie that some were following her exuberant right hand and some were getting down and disco with her left.

As well as the choir, it was a chance to see other local guest musicians perform too.

Luckily, that evening we were treated to one of the best local bands around: Warsaw Radio.

This indie rock four-piece were professional, loud and wowed the crowd with booming baritone lead vocals, soaring violin and a tight sound.

They fully took advantage of the great sound system in the Old Market and nearly took the roof off once or twice.

Their songs, which included Down By the Sea, Radio One and Give It All To Fear, were poetic, sentimental and melancholic but with a twist of hope. The perfect folk cocktail.

They are soon to be recording some new songs with producer Jag Jago who worked with The Maccabees. Their new EP is set to be showcased at Komedia in August.