Koc Page Southern Hotel, Manchester

It was a remark that summed up the casual humour and gentle beauty of the Norwegian duo. As the rest of Manchester was buffeted by an unseasonal mizzling monsoon, upstairs at a Chorlton pub, there was an air of calm serenity and polite enthralment.

Øye and Boe are the Simon and Garfunkel of this generation, twisting their voices into the most delicious of harmonies and backing them with simple acoustic melodies and the occasional tinkling piano.

And as the Bergen boys played, the air of a folk gig drifted over the assembled. The majority may have been perched on bar stools, but they may as well been sat cross-legged on the floor before their heroes, offering only the occasional clink of a pint or uncontainable whoop to break the reverential hush that met each tune.

They couldn't be blamed for their response. From new tracks like the wandering Misread or the delicate duet Cayman Islands, to older favourites like the genuinely classic Toxic Girl, the musical offerings of the Kings of Convenience were impeccable.

What was surprising was the humour that accompanied them. Whether ruminating on their decision not to write a setlist, attempting to open up a cover of the Breeders' Cannonball, slinky dancing to I'd Rather Dance With You or poking fun at the music business with a song about everyone having a friend in Stockholm, both Øye and Boe were fitting occupants of a stage that's played host to Manchester's oldest comedy club for the past 15 years.

After a hour and a quick encore, the pair left the stage with a handshake and a bow, Øye heading for a DJ set in Hamburg, Boe heading to the bar. The rest of us simply sat in awe of how a pair of voices, a pair of acoustic guitars and a piano could produce such a wonderful show.

Manchester Evening News review

Kings Of Convenience @ Southern Hotel

23/06/04

LIKE passing ships in the night Bergen and Manchester hooked up for a couple of hours last night, for something akin to a triumphant homecoming.

An inhabitant of Chorlton in the late 1990s, Norway's Erlend Øye and his musical accomplice Eirik Glambek Bøe returned to play an intimate and rather special show for the locals.

In the time which has passed in their absence, Erlend (the quirkier looking of the duo) has filled his days with the triple pleasures of song writing, travelling and DJing.

Meanwhile, Eirik the more studious and photogenic half of the relationship finished his psychology degree back home.

On last night’s evidence, they shouldn’t be allowed to part for so long again.

While a traditional Manchester welcome, weather wise, unleashed itself on the venue's windows, like the most comforting of blankets, the pair sent out wave after wave of the most enchanting music I’d heard in a long time.

Riot On An Empty Street

Concentrating mainly on tracks from their new LP, Riot On An Empty Street, Eirik and Ereland combined majestic guitar melodies with the subtlest of vocal harmonies and intriguing observational lyrics.

From the heart-rending last single Misread to the sunshine escapism of the Cayman Islands, it is the smoothest of cocktails.

The pair impress with their between song patter too, cheekily requesting which audience members had heard the new songs, in order to gauge how first week sales were going.

We were even treated to a spot of impromptu shape throwing during the salsa-style I Want To Dance With You, while Erlend’s solo effort, Everybody’s Got A Friend In Stockholm, sparked rye amusement as the crowd sensed his Nordic displeasure at the trendy Swedish capital.

Back in the country in August for a festival in Leicester, one hopes the promoters at the Southern Hotel will be able to tempt an early return.

As long as it is convenient of course.