The past few months has seen a sudden burst of activity from Cardiff based musician Meilir. The recording and final release of his eagerly anticipated Mini LP 'Bydd Wych', increased airplay, a Radio One session, and a gig list that's been growing by the week have all contributed to this artist's busy schedule. It was at the Mayday gig to promote 'Bydd Wych' that gave theAbsurd and the folk of Wrexham their first chance to see Meilir accompanied with a full band.

I've been lucky enough to see Meilir live half a dozen times or more, and the audience get to experience an acoustic guitar, a piano, a tray of gravel and kalimba - even at solo gigs. Meilir's magial performances have always gone way beyond the boundaries of singer-songwriter, so the chance to see a 'full band' gig was too good an opportunity to miss. I heard the EP version of Bydd Wych a few weeks back and was pleasantly surprised by the addition of drums to a track I'd only ever witnessed as a stripped down, kalimba driven, vocal piece.

Choice of venue is of great importance to Meilir, and it was no surprise that he picked the Glyndwr Performance Hall. A brand new purpose-built performance space, with excellent acoustics gave the air of an impending 'performance' piece. This is art, this isn't background music for chatting drinkers. Meilir's music commands your attention and the venue was set up exactly for that. Laid out in front of us were keyboards, synths, xylophones, guitars, bass, glasses of water, laptops, and of course the now famous box of gravel.

As the lights dimmed on a hushed crowd, Meilir, wearing his signature style antique suit, strode confidently into the room along with three other musicians to a huge round of applause.

As the band moved about the stage and changed roles amongst the array of kit a storming set of tunes from Bydd Wych as well as old favourites were played to a totally captive audience. But these weren't the minimal haunting melodies we were used to from Meilir. Were they still haunting and captivating? Absolutely, but this entire performance was on a much grander, more epic scale. With the addition of drum machine, live electric bass and synth accompanying Meilir's vocals, the detail in these treatments proved exactly how seriously this musician takes his art.

The ambiguity of his lyrics lead you into a mysterious and beautiful world that you don't want to leave. The stunning 'Misshaped' with its delicate percussion, xylophone and scratched violin rhythms complimented Meilir's vocals beautifully. But, the highlight for me was incredible final track 'Odei'. This song just kept on building. As the drum machine played off against crackles and taps from broken jack leads, and tray of gravel were struck, an animated Meilir rocked back and forth on his piano stool hammering a repetitive melody and snarling out the lyric "...don't you worry 'bout a thing, cos it's all gonna be alright..."

As the set closed and the machines whirred to an end, the band exited the stage to a crowd cheering for more. I wanted it to start all over again.

I left the venue knowing that I had just witnessed something truly special. So, is it "all gonna be alright"...? As long as there are artists like Meilir out there brave enough to stand up and break away from the mainstream then yes, it's going to be perfect.