Shane Smith and The Saints are all about the music. Their set at Gorilla, Manchester, was back-to-back high energy, delivering hits from albums new and old.

At a dimly lit basement bar in the centre of Manchester, the five-piece band – Shane Smith on vocals and guitar, Bennet Brown on fiddle, guitarist Dustin Schaefer, bassist Chase Satterwhite, and drummer Zach Stove – left it all on the stage for UK fans.

When Smith and his band opened the show with an extended musical intro followed by Adeline, Book of Joe and Feather, it was impossible to not acknowledge the ferocity with which they played, and wonder how they would keep that up for the remaining 90 minutes. And yet, every single band member kept giving and giving to their audience, right to the end. Even when Smith broke a guitar string and restrung it part way through ‘Hail Mary’, there was no let-up in his vocals or the focus of any other bandmembers – a testament to their professionalism and experience. “Not a very good time to break but we got through it,” said Smith as the song finished, “we got this shit, let’s go.” His audience erupted with cheers and applause and continued to do so for the rest of the night.

Songs like ‘Hurricane’ saw a slower, bluesy start with darker, lower lighting – mirroring the calm before the storm – and bled into a technical musical climax that spotlighted each band member’s talents.

“We’re very far from Texas right now,” said Smith after ‘It’s Been A While,’ “but it’s a really cool feeling being this far and seeing y’all so thank you so much, we love you to death.”

Shane Smith and the Saints have been grafting for years and there is no story that tells more tales of resilience and passion than theirs. Smith told fans in Manchester how they “drove all over the state of Texas handing out burnt CDs” when they were just getting started, desperate for their big break. As they played ‘Coast’ – the title track of the aforementioned CD – the band were silhouetted against the lights behind them, covered by a cinematic mist across the stage. The song filled out into its chorus with the lights flashing melodically as if waves on the shore.

Smith’s deep Texan voice transports you to the American South in songs like ‘Fire in the Sky,’ and Brown’s fiddle feels akin to Irish folk music in songs like ‘The Greys Between’, echoing the band’s ability to amalgamate sounds from different genres to create music that highlights their talent.

There’s a shared look and a knowing smile from bandmembers as Smith introduced ‘Fire in the Ocean’. “This one is off the show Yellowstone,” he said as they began to play. The audience loved it and knew every single word.

Smith closed the main part of his show with ‘Little Bird’, asking fans to “put an arm around someone’s shoulder and sway back and forth” following with a crescendo ending in ‘Heaven Knows’.

Returning for the encore, Smith was joined by Brown initially to play ‘Right Side of the Ground’ – a beautifully poignant number as the two sang the emotive number.

The whole band closes the show with ‘What A Shame’ and ‘All I See Is You’ – the joy highlighted on their faces as the crowd joins in for the latter right from the first word.

There is no question that Shane Smith and the Saints have worked hard to get to where they are. With innumerable setbacks, each bandmember has had to dig deep to find the strength and resilience to come back fighting. But, boy, are we glad they did. There are not many that could pour the same amount of energy into a slow, emotional number as well as an upbeat, fun song – but this band have absolutely nailed it. The talent in the way they play their instruments, the lyricism and the performance leave no room for criticism; it was a total joy to watch from start to finish.