Initially, there is the fear that Fleet Foxes' music might be too precious to stand performance in a sweltering, concrete nightclub. They open with Sun Giant, a burst of spectral a cappella singing that, like much of their music, hymns an older, simpler, more bucolic existence. The effect is instantaneously spellbinding and transporting; until, alas, the spell is suddenly broken by the sound of someone banging open the door of the gents.
But as it turns out, that is the first and last interruption. You can understand why, not least when a beautifully delicate cover of Judee Sill's Crayon Angels glides into the album's closing track, Oliver James. After one particularly magnificent bit of harmonising, bassist Christian Wargo can briefly be seen above the audience's heads, turning to drummer Joshua Tillman and offering a deeply incongruous high-five. So they do look rather pleased with themselves after all. It is perfectly understandable.
· At the Social, Nottingham, tonight. Box office: 0115-950 5078. Then touring.
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