Gary Lawrence is soothed by the soulful strains of Michael Kiwanuka

He strolled on stage at 8.15, catching out a few latecomers, including me so his first song may well have been the greatest live entrance in the history of this great venue. Apologies if I missed it.

But by the time this likeable, charming and self-effacing performer got into his second song, One More Night from his new album Love & Hate, he had the audience enraptured.

He came armed with tight line-up, a lead guitar to complement his own, bassist, drums, percussion and keyboard. But by far the most potent instrument is that mellifluous voice that is so rich and honey coated it ought to come with a warning for anyone with high cholesterol.

With just two albums to his name, and the first aimed in a very different direction, there is not that much material to perform, hence we have just 12 songs in little more than 70 minutes. The majority of those songs, nine in all, are from the new album, a mix of soulful ballads strung out over complex blues rhythms and high tempo indie. At times it sounds like Travis have recruited Marvyn Gaye as a frontman, at others there’s an echo of Van Morrison, others still a touch of Sam Cooke or Courtney Pine.

By far his best known number, the urgently angry Black Man In A White World, was met with a cheer and sing-along approval.

The audience, mostly female, many 35 and over, loved him. As he wound that velvet voice around the raunchy guitar thruster The Final Frame, smokey-eyed housewives encircled their partners and nuzzled their necks meaningfully in a fashion probably not seen since the closing ceremony of London 2012. This was make-out music for the Bake Off set.

Kiwanuka deftly rode the wave of tension, adding a jagged edge to his voice through the edgy Father’s Child to close the show.

He was roared back to perform a slightly under-powered cover of Prince’s Sometimes It Snows In April but ended the night on a real high with the finger-clicking, hip-swaying mood ballad Love & Hate.

“We’ll definitely be back,” he promised the audience. A hundred lonely housewives clutched it to their hearts.