It has been a long journey for Mike Scott, singer with The Waterboys.

From the wide-eyed troubadour of 20 years ago, peering out into the world and discovering a band with a sound big enough to meet his vision, to a 40-something apparently closing in on inner peace on his latest album, he and his band have provided moments that stand comparison with the best in rock.

With a split acoustic/electric set, they gave a memorable demonstration of their power.

At first a touch tentative, Scott quietly introduced three numbers from the latest album, Universal Hall.

With just a violin and piano for back-up, his searching voice took centre stage, the heartfelt lyrics on Every Breath Is Yours prompting polite applause from the mainly over-30s audience.

With not a Blue or a Busted fan in sight, this was serious music for serious music-lovers but, as the acoustic set drew to a close, a cover of Van Morrison's Sweet Thing raised the emotional temperature.

The lush romanticism of the lyrics ("walking in gardens all wet with rain") conspired with the violin-fuelled climax to send shivers down the spine.

The addition of a drummer and bassist after the interval signalled another gear-change and, when Scott wielded an electric guitar for Medicine Bow, the driving rock-out from 1985's This Is The Sea, people leapt from their seats to dance in the aisles.

An extraordinary, stripped-down version of Don't Bang The Drum followed and then the high-point of the night, an epic performance of The Pan Within. Scott proved himself true to the song's word, swapping guitar for piano mid-song to pound out the last remaining passion and take us on "a journey under the skin".

It was shocking in its intensity and a stunning reminder of the band's range. "All you've got to do is surrender," he sang. And we did.

For an encore, crowd-pleaser The Whole Of The Moon was rolled out before the quiet grace of another new song, Peace Of Iona.

However, the final act was, perhaps, most revealing - a traditional Irish arrangement in which Scott took a tambour and blended in with the rest of the band at the front of the stage.

The joy was as much theirs as ours - musicians without ego lost in the thrill of performance. The journey continues.

Review by Tom Stokes, tom.stokes@theargus.co.uk