"I haven't spoken for 48 hours", Paloma Faith tells an almost full house at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall, after suffering a bout of laryngitis that forced her to cancel the Edinburgh leg of her Intimate Things tour.
On Tuesday night though, that voice, packaged in a cheeky black leather dress and white tutu combo and topped off with a red 'Tinkerbell' wig, is well and truly back.
"All we have is the moments", she tells the cheering crowd, then, kicking off with Last Night on Earth, she tells the audience to imagine it is - "And you wouldn't want to be sitting down if it was, now would you?"
READ MORE : Review - Blossoms have a special homecoming at AO Arena
What follows is a slightly odd game of Musical Chairs as the crowd get on their feet to dance but then decide Crybaby just isn't, well, all that dancey.
They soon start bopping more consistently though.
From the get go, it's clear that the band and Paloma are one unit, a pack of pals rather than a singer and her backing group.
The stunning guitar on Beautiful and Damned marks the turning point from good to great, with the quirky songstress then wheeling out her Cockney Sparrow for a medley 'round the old Joanna' of Stone Cold Sober, 30 Minute Love Affair, New York and the exquisite Stargazer, which she dedicates to Prince, who apparently loved the song.
We only get a mere snippet of it though, which is a shame, as it's definitely one of those 'moments' she talked about earlier, beautifully showcasing her wounded angel vocals.
The poppy Sigma and Sigala collaborations Changing and Lullaby are predictably good, as is the Chaka Khan favourite I'm Every Woman, which she belts out after an amusing anecdote about the time she sang it in front of 40,000 people at Chaka's behest, without really knowing the song.
Picking up the Pieces is a crowd favourite and then it's the brilliant woman power anthem, Monster, which is actually a tad disappointing, the band eclipsing the vocals somewhat, maybe due to Paloma's still recovering vocal chords.
This is the only song where her voice falters.
Paloma has an unusually eclectic repertoire, which keeps things varied and fresh but it's the likes of Guilty and If This is Goodbye that really give you the shivers.
There aren't quite enough of the tracks like these that showcase her voice the best.
Next she gives us Only Love Can Hurt Like This, followed by Better Than This, which she fluffs at first, styling it out beautifully though and finishing the night on a high.
Theatrical though Paloma certainly is, there is, at the same time, nothing of the diva about her.
Rather than feeling like you're watching a star singer's show, you feel instead as if you've opened the door to a fairy dust sprinkled party of a wonderfully wacky, and talented, friend.
Get the latest What's On news - from days out, food and drink to music and nightlife - straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter.
