Last night, in a rare case of the Wombat File staff actually remembering to buy tickets for something we wanted to see, we bestirred ourselves to Belle and Sebastian's benefit performance for the Prospect Park Alliance. As if to reward our unusual lack-of-slackness on the artistic front, the humidity retreated, a light breeze ruffled the oaks above our heads (whch glowed in the lights, prompting an Ent-comparison from Stuart Murdoch), and a few stars made themselves visible.

The band was surprisingly tight and the sound excellent for an outdoor show – it's always difficult to work with strings on stage, but on songs like "Don't Leave the Light on Baby" they had every layer of sound perfectly aligned. Songs from the forthcoming record, particularly "Roy Walker," were encouraging, and a Velvets-esque rave-up coda to "Judy and the Dream of Horses" was ample compensation for the fact that the band didn't play too many songs from If You're Feeling Sinister. There was also an encore cover of "My Little Red Book," more fun in the idea than in the execution, but still a Love-ly way to wrap up a summer night.