James Blake is not easy listening. In fact, he is probably the least commercial artist to have broken through onto daytime radio playlists in recent years. With his resolutely uncommercial body of work, his live show at the Thekla was an intriguing prospect.

It would be fair to say that a lot of punters simply did not get Blake’s music. And there was a constant battle between those enraptured by the performance shushing those who persisted in talking, even through the quieter numbers.

Blake and two other musicians were sat down on stage throughout the hour-long set, adding another layer of intrigue to the proceedings, as unless you were at the front of the crowd or over six-foot tall, it was very difficult to see what was going on.

So that made the music produced by the trio on stage even more important. And you may not have been able to see the sounds created, but you most definitely were able to feel them, the bass on many songs literally shaking the ceilings and interior fittings of the Thekla.

The classically-trained pianist, a recent graduate from Goldsmiths University, began his set with Unlock, also the opening track from his eponymous debut album (below) released earlier this year.

Its vocoder and disorientating beats set the tone for the rest of the night, which continued with The Wilhelm Scream with its refrain of “falling, falling, falling” set to a distorted bass line.

Blake remained quiet when he was not singing, briefly thanking the crowd for being there, but preferring to let his music do the talking. His high singing voice and its wobbles were reminiscent of Anthony Hegarty from Anthony and the Johnsons, and his piano playing could have easily have seen him perform a recital at St George’s if it were not for the bass that sometimes vibrated through your whole body.

Is the heavy bass just a gimmick? I don’t think so, and I Never Learnt to Share, a song about fraternal strife, proved that. It started with a simple vocal that was looped not just once but twice, thrice, then joined by the bass, a bit fuzzier than usual, and then even more vocal trickery, Blake now accompanying himself many times over.

Blake’s most accessible tune, Limit To Your Love, a cover of a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Feist, was what many of the crowd were waiting for and it didn’t disappoint.

Limit To Your Love finished with a more typical dubstep beat than on record, which the crowd showed their appreciation for, as the drums and bass left barely any room for Blake’s delicate piano lick, until his vocals returned for a surprisingly subtle ending.

With silence being as much part of this gig as the notes, the constant murmur of chatter was a shame, but Blake’s performance was a masterclass in living up to hype, while striving to remain true to his thoughtful, intelligent and completely mesmerising music.