“Do you have to take pictures of me with my lesbian haircut?” is the introduction that most people get to Lucy and the Caterpillar as they filter away from the seating at The Luminaire.

Add into this a tiny guitar and a thick northern accent and its one hell of an introduction; especially for a folk gig.

Strumming along on her guitar (or caterpillar), Lucy shifts between singing whimsical songs about crocheting an owl to songs about getting home so drunk you can only sleep. The confidence that comes from her as she plays her way through the set is almost startling for someone so young (in a non patronising way). She interacts with the crowd regularly making them laugh as much as she endears with her songs.

The simple melodies are a good contrast to what Chris T-T will bring after. The delicacies of the notes standing out against sometimes-hardened lyrics, which do not reinvent the wheel but still shake it about a bit.

As Chris T-T comes to the stage, there is initially a great comparison between the two artists as Chris stands alone with an acoustic guitar and sings. The only genre the song would ever fit into is folk, but as he pronounces: “That’s enough of that quiet shit”, the needle switches drastically with the introduction of a full band to lead the way with We Are The King of England.

New album Capital is a big departure from previous efforts such as 9 Red Songs, with the full band making the folk singer sound more like the Smashing Pumpkins than any traditional folk act.

That’s not to say that he has denounced these roots in any way; the lyrics still pour with tales of injustice and wrong committed by those who ought to know better. The triple whammy of Box to Hide In, The M1 Song and the rousing The Huntsmen Comes A-Marching proves categorically that folk singers do not love everything about the country side and still stand up to be counted.

After a short departure to allow Chris to sing songs from 9 Red Songs, the band returned to end the evening with a bang. It was then much easier to see the ways in which it all complimented each other. Chris T-T’s lyrics are often startlingly angry at the world and when backed with just a guitar the meaning is definitely not lost, but the anger that comes with them may not always be felt.

But as he and his drummer decide they’ve got the speed wrong for the last song it is a lot easier to see that with this wall of noise behind him, the meaning and the anger of his songs achieves a new dimension.

It ends as it started with Chris and a guitar, plus an audience who have seen two brutally honest performances by people whose views on the world are entirely their own. Long may it continue.