The artist formerly known as Musiq Soulchild - he has discarded his surname - is considered to be the crème de la crème of neo-soul. Also referred to as nu-soul, the phrase is used to describe the work of urban artists favouring carefully crafted live instrumentation and perceptive song-writing over the Q-Base beats and booty-shaking braggadocio of their R&B contemporaries.

Before Musiq even sets foot onstage, the atmosphere feels explosive. When he actually appears, his fervent followers raise the roof. Barely three chords are played by his bassist before the audience anticipates the organic funk of Forthenight, and the Empire is transformed into a heaving mass of histrionics. Nearly drowning out his impressively far-ranging vocal, the crowd zealously karaoke the soul-clap of Caughtup and the boho-sensitivities of Halfcrazy.

Towards the finale the tempo is suddenly changed for the Rolling Stones cover Missyou, and it is here that Musiq stumbles slightly. The transformation from smoothed-out soul star to writhing rock god clearly confuses the audience. "Did I lose some of you there?" he wonders, looking at the sea of startled faces before swiftly segueing into crowd-pleaser Just Friends (Sunny). Still, Musiq proves that, provided it stays well within the realms of the expected, nu-soul can be just as moving an experience as the old.