Facey McStubblington stood atop a chair at centre stage, his face radiant with beatific delight as he delivered a face-melting guitar solo while his band mates unleashed party poppers at either side.

The modest nature of the pyrotechnics could not dim his joy: wreathed in a wavy auburn beard, he resembled a contented cousin of the Game Of Thrones king Robert Baratheon.

Celebrating a decade at the hirsute fringes of the music industry, the Beards’ new single is the Status Quo-like stompathon Ten Long Years, One Long Beard.

Their enthusiastic audience involves a diverse range of people, many of whom would probably not have nuzzled each other’s facial hair without enthusiastic encouragement from frontman Johann Beardraven.

Rocking through their hits, teasing each other on stage and eagerly encouraging audience participation in harmony – complete with spooky whispering on There’s A Bearded Man Inside Me – the band are terrific entertainers.

Beardraven switched from fevered saxophone to furry keytar and falsetto wailing, and lanky bassist Nathaniel Beard strode on the spot: as they launched into their epic power-balled encore, Nothing Better Than a Beard, the crowd held their hands in the air as if testifying to glory at a religious revival meeting.

Five stars