Review | The Nights of Grief and Mystery at Treadgolds, Portsea: 'Haunting, beautiful, but most of all thought-provoking'

As night falls while the band play, so the venue darkens, in keeping with the tone of the performance.

While the space provides the perfect atmosphere, unfortunately the acoustics are not so great and the drums at first threaten to overwhelm everything else. Kudos to the lady who says what most of us are thinking, and drummer Adam Bowman duly swaps his sticks for brushes which largely solves the problem.

Nights of Grief of Mystery is a curious beast: part spoken word, part gig, part theatre, maybe? Stephen Jenkinson, who provides the narration for the evening, has described it as 'ceremonial' and he's not wrong.

The band, led by Gregory Hoskins, also features bassist Colleen Hodgdson and Lisa Hodgson on keys, and the performance is interspersed with 'traditional' songs, which complement Jenkinson's orations.

A vehicle for Jenkinson's philosophy, we get his thoughts on death, love, fate and much more besides. Sometimes delivered as prose, sometimes as poetry, sometimes over the lightest of musical accompaniment, sometimes with the full band behind him. But it always demands your full attention – this is definitely not the kind of show where you can chat to your mate while the band plays on.

The language is evocative, the imagery often haunting and beautiful, but most of all it is thought-provoking, asking us to recognise the miracles in the path our lives took to lead us to this point, or how do we die best for those we love? There are also reflections on the psychic impact of the pandemic – particularly on the world's youth.

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Jenkinson frequently invokes the gods, but this is not a religious sermon.

Such is the nature of the show, the sold out house is often unsure of whether to clap or not. After some pieces finish there's simple stunned silence.

While the themes are heavy, the show is not heavy going – there is also levity in the interplay between Jenkinson and Hoskins.

There is definitely something profound in the night's messages, and this is going to live with me for a long time.