The first time I saw The Raconteurs I’d never heard any of their music before. Not being a particular fan of any of the bands that make up the ‘supergroup’, I had no particular expectations. It was a welcome surprise when I fell in love with them instantly.

I always felt that Brendan Benson’s solo stuff seemed lacklustre at times; I never really ‘got’ the White Stripes; and, to be perfectly honest, I’d not heard any of The Greenhornes material. The Raconteurs, however, don’t really seem like a group of people picked from other bands – on stage they feel like a cohesive knot of people. With no rules or colour schemes to adhere to, The Raconteurs just look like they’re having fun.

Sometimes, though, they’re a tad overindulgent – elongating songs while everyone widdles away on their instruments – and waiting for them to finish jamming and get on with the next song is slightly irritating at times. Then again, they’ve only got one album to their name, so I suppose they’ve got to pass the time somehow.

The cheesy ‘Together’ gives me goosebumps, while the stripped-down bluesy perfection of ‘Store Bought Bones’ erupts into a noisy fight between the guitars of Jack White and Brendan Benson. A fantastic cover of Cher’s ‘Bang Bang’ followed, with squalling guitar and blues-soaked riffs; the deep, lazy vocals hypnotise and, while it goes on a bit, it’s well worth waiting for the epic finale.

The band leave the stage after what seems like a short set, returning with a triumphant version of ‘Steady As She Goes’: Jack and Brendan share the microphone, looking like a couple of love-struck kids. It’s cute, really it is.

An elongated instrumental jam leads into a stonking version of ‘Blue Veins’, which is so Led Zeppelin-like it’s like Page and Plant are actually on stage with them. The perfect pop of ‘Hands’ grows into a rumble of drums and bass with its lush sing-along chorus and clap-your-hands-in-the-air super-fast outro. It’s by far the best song of the night for me.

Staying on stage to bow and clap to the audience, I’m struck by how humble this band seem – not only are they members of some of the most respected bands around, they also find time to be able to captivate an audience with a collection of songs that could be instant classics.

True performers, in every sense of the word. If you want my two-penneth, they should ditch their other bands and be full-time Raconteurs!