There are many more pleasant ways to spend a Thursday afternoon than queuing for nigh on three hours on the northbound carriageway of the M1. Particularly when said queue is caused by some great initiative known as testing out newly configured speed cameras. Still, every means has an end, and by the time we reach our destination, all the hassles and irritations of earlier are soon forgotten.

Her Name Is Calla look flustered, certainly more so than the last time we saw them. A sound man's nightmare at the best of times, tonight's tight schedule and 10pm curfew means they barely finish lugging all of their gear and many gadgets onstage before it's time to plug in and play. Half an hour and three songs later, we wonder what all the fuss was about as their performance is quite simply majestic. From the post-rock 'Bohemian Rhapsody' that is 'Condor And River' - a three-part epiphany that is mesmerising on record becomes an astounding exercise in mini-dramatics live - to the joyous drum-infused finale of 'New England', where tour manager and Gizeh Records label boss Richard Knox joins them for a spot of tub-thumping, Her Name Is Calla simply ooze breathtaking ingenuity throughout their too-short set. Even more astonishing is frontman Tom Morris' comment afterwards: he felt tonight was a bad gig as he couldn't hear anything through the monitors. If this is HNIC at their worst, when they're at their peak simply doesn't bear thinking about.

There's probably no better tonic than a mid-tour hometown show, particularly when your recently album has received a less-than enthusiastic reception from some of those previously in tow with your every move (see here). Ever since the earliest demos first landed on the doormat, expectations have always run high for iLiKETRAiNS - maybe too high in some quarters - and with a string of superlative singles behind them maybe some people need to remember that Elegies To Lessons Learnt is actually their first long-player.

While the debate rages on, what is without argument is the fact iLiKETRAiNS are one of the most engaging live forces around - on their day, simply untouchable - and tonight is no exception.

Gone are the historic railwaymen's jackets, replaced instead by matching white shirts, black ties and black armbands - to signify their paeans to all things lost in the past perhaps? What is still omnipresent are the walls of sound that elongate the likes of new songs 'We All Fall Down' and 'We Go Hunting' into the kind of scintillating epics we hoped they'd continue producing. 'Terra Nova' is simply mind-blowing in itself, while a rare encore that sees instrumental 'Victress' and debut single 'Before The Curtains Close' get equally rare outings proves the perfect finale.

Whatever your thoughts on Elegies..., an iLiKETRAiNS show is still a most exhilarating lift to experience. No pun intended, of course.