Once the darlings of the US college radio landscape Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have grown into a formidable and consistent presence on the Americana scene. Despite a lack of visibility in the marketplace (and little enough airplay) tonight’s sold-out show demonstrated their continuing pulling power.

And fully deserved it is too. With rarely a dull moment over almost two hours, the Atlanta based duo entertained and thrilled a lively audience with songs from their 15-year career and a handful of teasers from their upcoming album.

Their secret has always been in blending country/bluegrass flavoured harmonies and acoustic alt. rock with a raw spirituality. Songs like ‘Gone Again’, ‘Galileo’ their best known number ‘Closer To Fine’, and the gorgeous ‘Power Of Two’ are perfect examples of intelligent songwriting.

New songs aired from the soon-to-be-released Become You included the title track, ‘Our Deliverance’ and the Tex-Mex flavoured ‘Nuevas Senoritas’. More politically aware than most, they thankfully kept the preaching to a minimum, mentioning only the Bloody Sunday March in Derry and the Church’s attitude to gays. Speaking of which, the duo have never made a secret of their sexuality and the sizeable lesbian contingent in the audience swapped good natured banter throughout the show. A guest appearance from our own Damien Dempsey rounded off an exhilarating evening.