Formed by the trusty collaborators of the one and only Captain Beefheart, The Magic Band brought their inimitable charms to Concorde 2 on Friday evening.

Notorious for some of the most beguiling, boundary-pushing compositions in popular music, Beefheart, aka Don Van Vliet, was always full of surprises, and his band certainly followed suit this time around.

Of course, without the sadly departed bandleader, there was something of a void at centre stage. John “Drumbo” French gave some great vocal contributions in lieu of the Captain, his voice a dead ringer for Vliet’s at times.

The band were astonishingly tight and visibly in love with the material, whipping through topsy-turvy classics such as Big Eyed Beans From Venus with gusto.

More than just a reliving of past glories, The Magic Band’s set confirmed them as an enduringly relevant and electrifying live outfit, putting most of the day’s self-appointed mavericks to shame.

In all likelihood we’ll never see the like of Beefheart again, so it’s a joy to relive these most bizarre and brilliant compositions, with the crowd lapping up the likes of My Human Gets Me Blues.

It was a show that no one wanted to end, and no doubt the good Captain would approve.