As something of a wild card in Vega’s usual lineup, Los Van Van’s concert Saturday night was clearly a show of a different sort. The 14-piece Cuban orchestra stepped onto the stage amidst shrieks and chants of excitement from a partisan crowd that had turned up with the very specific intention of dancing the night away – and dance they did.

Naturally, a group of the size and status of Los Van Van always have plenty of expectations to live up to from the word go. Last night’s show saw Los Van Van outdo themselves. The merry-making Cubans were nothing short of perfect and the crowd loved them.

Los Van Van didn’t hold themselves back, as they served up a canny blend of songs hailing predominantly from their latest album, La Maquinaria. Their dance-friendly, heavily-instrumented fusion of irresistible songo (a mixture of Cuban and Caribbean rhythms) worked wonders on the crowd, who were more energetic and more impassioned than any other I have seen at Vega.

This was one of those rare concerts in which everyone, on and off stage, seemed to be well and truly enjoying themselves from start to finish.

This sense of collectiveness was most evident at moments during tracks like the distinct ‘Me Mantengo’, which was brought on towards the end of the show and summed up everything that was good and great about the night.

As a 40-year-old orchestra, Los Van Van played with the mastery and perfection of experienced musicians doing what they do best, yet one has to give credit to their newer, younger band members who seem to have added even more liveliness to their show and who seem to blend seamlessly in with the rest of the troupe.

It is rare to see so much chemistry between the members of a band, all the more so in one that contains 14 different people and rarer still to be part of an audience that doesn’t hold back one bit when it comes to their enjoyment of the show. Credit due where credit is due: Vega deserve a pat on the back for booking one of the most talented music ensembles this reviewer has had the pleasure of

If Friday’s performance was anything to go by, it is more than safe to assume that Danish electro experimentalist Rangleklods (aka Esben Andersen) may well become something of a household name in the not too distant future. The Berlin-based musician fired things up at a crammed Lille Vega with snippets of his upcoming debut album Beekeeper – which is due to drop this week- combined with older material off the 2011 EP Home as well as other single releases.

Rangleklods stepped onto the scene to an anticipatory crowd who didn’t fully let themselves go during the concert, but who seemed to enjoy themselves nonetheless. The light show and the acoustics were some of the best I have seen at Vega – complimenting the experimental, Joy Division- esque electronic sounds of the seemingly unstoppable Rangleklods, who performed behind a smoky haze of flashes and lightning-like shards that accentuated the hissing hi-hats and heavy bass lines of his music.

This time round, Andersen was accompanied by a guitarist who added a refreshingly innovative touch to his music, which was no more evident than during the ‘Young And Dumb’ tune, which features a hallucinatory, psychedelic electronic guitar sequence.

At some points during the show, however, this mysterious guitarist seemed to be more of a spectator than part of the actual process – although when she did play, she played with enthusiasm and panache that glossed this over.

The new album is definitely a lot more rich in pop influences than their previous releases, which arguably makes it a more accessible work by virtue of it appealing to a broader audience.

This notwithstanding, Beekeeper does elicit a more musically mature sound that preserves the consistent organic sounds Andersen experiments with, whilst infusing more vocal renditions into the process. The heavy bass lines and pronounced synth stabs that constitute the rather distinct sound  people have come to associated with the band with are consistent and prevalent throughout the album, and found room to roam on Friday thanks to live-setup that allowed Rangleklods to inject a great deal of spontaneity and improvisation to his studio productions.

And while musically the show definitely had a lot going for it, the show did get a tad monotonous at times and the audience didn’t really well and truly let themselves go. This notwithstanding, Rangleklods music can only get better with time. He is definitely an artist to watch out for this year.

When James Morrison first rose to critical acclaim in 2006, many must have wondered how a man of such talent had not been discovered earlier. When he played at a sold-out Store Vega last night, the crowd must have been flummoxed by what exactly they had just witnessed. At his best, the Rugby-born musician was as soulful a voice as any you’re likely to hear and even at his worst, he was teetering on the edge of sheer musical brilliance.

Morrison stepped onto the scene along with a sizeable backing band and proceeded to quench the crowd’s thirst with the prolific ‘Beautiful Life’, a well-placed opener that set the standard for the night. After a slowish start that entranced more than it entertained, signature track ‘I Won’t Let You Go’ took the concert to a whole new level five songs in, as Morrison’s hoarse yet soulful falsetto-inclined voice got the license to roam from low to high that it had been waiting for.

Fans and critics alike have hailed the lively singer’s style as being reminiscent to Stevie Wonder, albeit infused with elements of confessional lyrical singer/songwriter traits, an alternating pattern that was consistent throughout last night’s show.

Fluctuating between emotive, if not borderline melancholic. numbers juxtaposed alongside more soul-crammed tunes, Morrison and co didn’t take a misstep during their concert and seemed to be enjoying themselves more and more as time went by. An acoustic performance of ‘Right By Your Side’ was the highlight of it all, as Morrison’s vocals thundered through Vega unimpaired by any instrumentation whatsoever, bar a few well-placed electric guitar strums.

This numbed the mood and created an overwhelming sense of subtlety that was promptly left short-lived by a crescendo of upbeat tunes towards the end, such as the well-known ‘You Give Me Something’ and ‘Wonderful World’, both of which topped the charts back in 2007 and did their bit to send the crowd home with smiles on their faces.

It is rare to see a musician that’s graced with so much natural talent, rarer still to see one who is as genuinely humble about things as Morrison. Six years after being catapulted into the limelight, he’s still the shy lad from the West Midlands whose hoarse voice stands apart from any of his contemporaries.