I knew this was going to be different to any other gig I had been to when the night opened with a documentary about front-man Mark 'E' Everett's late father's life, rather than a support band.

The sell-out audience at The Sage, Gateshead was captivated as E took to the stage, clad in a baseball cap and what looked like a stripey boiler suit, and opened the show with two tracks played solo with just his electric guitar for backing.

It was one of the most powerful and emotive openings to a gig I have ever seen, and It's A Motherf*cker very nearly brought a tear to my eye.

The event was entitled 'An Evening With Eels', and E spent a lot of time between tracks talking to the audience about his musical career and personal life which has been blighted with tragedies.

At 19, he found his father dead, his sister Elizabeth committed suicide in 1996, and his mother died from lung cancer in 1998.

After the solo opening, E was joined on stage by fellow outstanding musician 'The Chet', also dressed in a matching boilersuit, for the rest of the gig, which trawled through some of the band's finest classic hits, including Novocaine For The Soul, My Beloved Monster And Me, and I Need Some Sleep - famous for its inclusion on the hit movie Shrek 2.

The quirky I Like Birds got the audience bouncing in their seats, and after The Chet read aloud an excerpt from E's autobiography describing the aftermath of his sister's suicide, the pair delivered an awesome performance of Last Stop: This Town.

It was almost dizzying watching E and The Chet move around a wide range of instruments, including a piano, various guitars, drums, and at times
The Chet played what looked like a saw with a violin bow, which produced a haunting sound.

The highlight of the show for me was an extended performance of the brilliantly quirky Flyswatter, which featured E on piano and vocals, and The Chet on drums.

But during a drum solo, E took over the sticks in a seamless transaction that didn't miss a beat, and The Chet took over piano before swapping back and fading the song out gradually to rapturous applause.

And another highlight was a stunning and poignant cover of Led Zepellin's Good Times Bad Times, which saw a role reversal as The Chet took over vocals, and E played the drums.

In the past, Eels have been renowned for playing several encores, sometimes with E taking to the stage in his slippers whilst equipment is cleared around him, but they kept the number of comebacks to a modest two on Saturday night.

It was an unforgettable gig in a spectacular location with one of the best sound systems I've ever heard, but my only criticism would go to the drunken heckler who slightly soured the atmosphere early in the show.

They more than deserved the "drunken a$$hole" comment delivered in their direction from E himself.