I had something of a transcendental experience at the Gary Clark Jr. show last night at the Sydney Opera House. I’ve seen Clark and his band before (this was the fourth time) and they have truly topped themselves each time, but last night was something else.

Seeing a concert like this at the Opera House isn’t unlike seeing a rock show in a cathedral. The concert hall is small and the permanent seats mean everybody is seated rather than standing. It invoked an atmosphere of reverence that transfixed everybody in the room. The scene couldn’t have been more intimate if the show had been moved to my living room.

The band made their way through both of their albums and just when I thought they were done Clark and his drummer, Johnny Radelat, snuck out for one more song that just so happened to be ‘Church’ – my favourite track on his new album and one of the songs Claire and I played at our wedding last year.

As Clark drove the melody steadily on by virtue of his guitar, harmonica and soulful vocals I realised that I was enjoying the perfect close to one of the single best concerts I’ve ever seen.

They can’t come back to town soon enough.