"This is a very intimate gathering, isn't it?," shouted Sian Evans as she surveyed the crowd from beneath her raven tresses.

Before the audience had time to answer, the Kosheen frontwoman was bounding from one end of the bijou stage to the other in her trademark black.

And the 300 fans packing the Brighton Coca Cola Red Room Sessions event at Creation wouldn't have had it any other way.

They beamed back, not believing their luck at getting within touching distance of the charismatic Welsh songstress.

The lucky few at the ticketless Kosheen gig were winners of a competition run in the Press during the past month.

Kosheen used the event to promote their new album Kokopelli - named after the North American Indian symbol of fertility, individuality and music.

The title summed up the hypnotic and energetic cocktail of sounds projected from the stage.

Emotive and melancholy vocals were teamed with good, old-fashioned guitar-led choruses. The most popular song was All In My Head - the current single.

It was easy to spot the influences of The Pretenders and Kate Bush in many of the tunes.

Audience members who braved the rain were rewarded with the short but sweet set of old and new songs, each followed by wild applause.

It lasted no more than 40 minutes and left them panting for more.