Gig review: The Lumineers at O2 Academy Leeds

They swiftly performed Ho Hey after just four songs which might seem strange to many given its popularity.

However, it is a sign of just how much quality they have elsewhere that the Denver-based folk band were able to deliver that 2013 crowd-pleaser so early and still leave everyone enthralled for another hour or so.

With their high-energy and so much infectious tap-along material, The Lumineers proved once more they are one of the best around when it comes to this genre of music.

Lead singer Wesley Schult asked the audience to put away their camera phones after Ho Hey. How refreshing they asked and, furthermore, that people actually took note.

Starting with Sleep on the Floor, and then Ophelia, from their fine new album Cleopatra, they were soon into their rhythm, Classy Girls, with its slow pace start, then rising to whip the crowd up into an early frenzy.

The excellent Dead Sea was another venture back to their 2012 self-titled debut album before the band illustrated their confidence and class by asking for silence in the auditorium – so they could, unusually, perform Darlene with no microphones or amplification whatsoever.

It is a risky tactic but the crowd hung on every word and greatly enjoyed a brilliant glockenspiel solo during it, too.

Schult ventured into the crowd for a round of high-fives during their take on Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues before a rousing Slow It Down and then he took to the piano for the catchy Submarine.

Gun Song saw Schult talk about his late father – there are numerous references to him in his work – but it was Big Parade that had the crowd in raptures again and, during the encore, the definitive and timeless Stubborn Love.

They apologised for taking so long to perform in Leeds properly – they did Leeds Festival in 2013 – but, it is fair to say, on this evidence, there was simply no need.