Crammed into an area of the stage no larger than a couple of square metres, and surrounded by the gear of other artists, the four members of Leicester outfit Dark Dark Horse cut an intensely DIY image. Despite the confined space, they look reasonably comfortable, as though they are used to practising in someone’s bedroom; three of them with instruments on their knees (on the bed?) while the fourth hunches over a drum machine. They sound great. The minimalism of their stage presence flows through the music – starkly beautiful and understated electro-indie reminiscent of The Notwist – and begins to tempt the early Friday night crowd to approach the stage in fits and starts.

The stripped-back theme progresses into Northwich singer-songwriter Joe Banfi‘s set. Though joined onstage by a ‘new bandmate’, the company is buried behind a MacBook, keeping Banfi very much alone in the spotlight. Leading in with some delicate finger-picking, his voice – something akin to that of Joe Newman from Alt-J – has a remarkable arresting effect, making the noisy half of the room pause their conversations for almost an entire song. Besides his unique voice, Banfi is also a technically diverse guitarist and poetic lyricist, and his set is both eclectic and crowd-pleasing, although not without one or two tuning wobbles. Fans of Ben Howard and Jake Bugg take note.

After a lengthy linecheck, during which the Jericho fills to bursting point, headliners Fossil Collective bring their hypnotic Bon Iver-inspired folk to the stage. In contrast to the support, we are treated to a full five-piece band, amply supplied with racks full of guitars and in full control of their lush alt-folk. There is a tightness in their performance unusual to a small-venue performance, and an engaging familiarity in the stage presence of front duo David and Jonny: David’s wild grin contrasting nicely with Jonny’s easy-going charm. The set consists chiefly of songs from their recently released debut album Tell Where I Lie, and the massed crowd reacts with enthusiasm to their warm melodies and tight vocal harmonies – audible despite an unfortunate microphone failure that makes it look as though David is miming at us in between songs. Highlights included haunting new single ‘Wolves’, and the Italian contingent of the band losing it on the ukulele. We disperse with a feeling of having been part of something great.