Cosmo Jarvis at The Musician, Leicester, 14/09/11

I'd been waiting to see Cosmo play live for a long time - mainly because I think he's one of the most exciting, inventive and entertaining musicians in the UK, but partly because I wanted to see how such a diverse back catalogue from a solo artist would translate to the stage with a band.

As it turns out, phenomenally well. Kicking straight into a belting rendition of 'Clean My Room', it's clear that Cosmo has assembled an amazing band who are right up there with him. They toss around musical complexity like it's a toy, bringing a sense of effortless, joyful simplicity to the music and lighting up the venue. 'Mel's Song' bounces even higher and harder than it does on the record, and 'She's Got You' follows up with a great, grin-inducing chunk of recorder-infused (yes, really) calypso.

The set list has a few surprises too, with quite a few new and unreleased tracks showing up. 'Sunshine' is a cracking country-ish rocker awash with hammond and huge walking bass lines, razor sharp and overflowing with fizzing energy. 'The Listener' churns a dark, spoken psychological story into one of the hardest, heaviest grooves I've yet to hear from Cosmo - proof that The Streets are pretty much redundant these days. 'The Mechanism' is probably Cosmo's hardest track yet, diving heavily into dark, oppressive prog-rock with a kick like a mule and a story to match.

Possibly the highlight though is the epic 'On A Train Downtown', which elevates itself onto a whole new level of serious musical maturity - it has a tough, yet warm alt-rock feel with a stunning bluesy bridge and glorious 4-part vocals, and is irresistibly hooky. I think this will be the track that turns people onto Cosmo who might previously have passed by. The band's guitar tech certainly seems to think so, passionately singing along from the side of the stage... that is, while he's not fighting a particular mandolin that just doesn't want to stay in tune or juggling a huge variety of guitars. Credit to the guy - working with a band of multi-instrumentalists keeps you on your toes!

New tracks aside, there's plenty of the familiar and welcome still to come; 'Blame it on Me' and 'The Talking Song' couldn't be any more different but tonight they're back to back and blowing the roof off - the former a loveable bluegrass stomp, the latter a laid back and slinky gem of social commentary abetted by a brilliant rhythm section.We're also treated to the brilliantly schizophrenic 'Sure As Hell Not Jesus' with it's manic see-saw of folky-pop verses set against a riotous rocky chorus, and the melancholy 'Sort Yourself Out'. The emotional yet uptempo 'Gay Pirates' also makes a welcome appearance and feels every bit as shoutalong as you'd hope, inciting a wave of mid-song clapping. It doesn't go unnoticed that a few members of the audience are visibly emotional over it either - sometimes a song reaches much further than it would seem on the surface. Exhausting renditions of the equally epic, equally brilliant 'My Day' and 'Betty' close off the set with an almighty final push, the latter blending just about every musical influence you can think of to devastating effect.

For someone who injects such a surplus of personality into his music and is capable of tearing the walls out of venues of this size, Cosmo comes across as mellow and good natured... possibly even slightly awkward but in a genuinely endearing way. That, in a nutshell, is the appeal of everything he does - nothing is obvious, everything is fair game. I can imagine the band playing the world's first parallel gig - one song at each stage of a festival in turn, slipping into the style of each previous headline act and blowing them off the stage one by one... and I have no doubt they could.

If you're up for having your ears opened to something genuinely new, look him up. You can thank me later.