With the stage crammed fit to bust with everything from violinists and cellists to accordion players and trombonists, the London Gypsy Orchestra's performance at the Academy was bound to be a lively affair.

But the 35-strong orchestra exceeded all expectations, getting every member of the packed audience clapping, stomping and hollering throughout the raucous set.

While the gypsy origin of some members of the orchestra may have been somewhat questionable, the authenticity of the music was never in doubt.

The delightfully vivacious bandleader, Gundula Gruen, led the orchestra and crowd on a whirlwind tour through gypsy traditions, sprinkling in a mix of music from Hungary, Turkey, Russia as well as pure Romany medleys.

As she and Evrah, who shared the singing duties, sang in a wide variety of Balkan languages, it was not easy to follow the story of each song.

But Gundula helpfully introduced most of the songs with a little bit of history - Romany tune Fuli Tschai, for example, was the tale of a beautiful gypsy girl who fell in love with a 'gadjo' non-gypsy.

So her parents cut off her nose, making her an ugly girl, Fuli Tschai.

The orchestra played for a good two hours, with an interval. They managed to whip the crowd into such a frenzy of clapping that on more than one occasion Gundula was moved to ask everyone to quieten down to slow the pace for a more melancholy melody.

Particularly impressive were the virtuoso violin performances from Gundula, who led a workshop before the show, and Mutsumi.

I left with my hands aching from clapping so much.