Band of Horses sound much less shiny live than they do on either their lovely debut Everything All The Time, or the yet-shinier follow up Cease To Begin. There’s a lot more grit to their shimmering alt country pop on-stage. The South Carolina six-piece put on a raucous, swagger-laden show, drowning the oversold Metro in their massive sound, which is much closer to the Band than it is fellow Southern brethren My Morning Jacket. Two songs in and Band of Horses busted out their intoxicatingly sweet Weed Party, and with a fair extra “Whoos!” thrown in for good measure, it was on.

There are times when the Metro is packed to the point where getting to the bar is difficult, and then there are times like these, where getting back to anywhere near where you were standing is impossible. Still, there was barely a sound to be heard in the crowd held to rapt attention when the band downshifted part-way through the set for a run of their more contemplative tracks, like the gorgeous No One’s Gonna Love You. When the band ramped it up again with the full effect of three guitars, keys and the propulsion of a rollicking, meat-and-potatoes rhythm section underneath, the cumulative effect was a great wall of sound, peaking on a stellar rendition of the popish single Is There A Ghost.

Towering guitarist Tyler Ramsey took over lead vocals on a track, which showed how beautifully his deeper register contrasted with the Shins-meets-Neil Young strains of singer/songwriter Ben Bridwell. Bridwell, bearded and thin, struck a kind of Chris Robinson pose when dancing shamanistically with wavering hands. He otherwise played an astonishing array of instruments including guitar, bass, lapstell, melodica, harmonica and something mysterious – small and white – that appeared to have knobs on it, but no one seemed to know for sure what it was. Keys round the six-piece out, and buttoned-down guitarist Blake Mills appeared as the most unlikely of guitar heroes, busting out solos from his tiny instrument and rocking out back to back with bass player Bill Reynolds at the height of the glorious Funeral.

“This is our fake last song,” Bridwell joked before bringing the band back for a three-song encore which sent everyone off into the night grinning and probably thinking that Band of Horses will never play a venue that tiny in this town again.