James Bay raises the roof at the Ulster Hall

The 25-year-old singer/songwriter, ably supported by Samm Henshaw and Elle King, took to the stage for a 90 minute set to rousing applause and it was only going to get louder.

Bay has already had quite a year so far. A number one debut album with The Chaos And The Calm, a hit single with Hold Back The River, and the Brits Critics’ Choice Award for 2015 – an accolade previously enjoyed by Sam Smith, Tom Odell and Adele.

Bay, who said the legendary Ulster Hall - which has previously welcomed the likes of The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, U2 and Led Zeppelin - was ‘the most beautiful room on the tour’, took to the stage in his trademark black fedora and skinny jeans.

And the ‘beautiful room’ certainly let Bay’s raspy vocals be heard at their best.

Playing his debut album in it’s entirety, Bay opened with Collide, before moving on to album opener Craving.

Continuing with album tracks When We Were On Fire, If You Ever Want to Be in Love and Need The Sun To Break, it seemed the crowd knew every single word and they happily sang them back to Bay.

This was evident even more so on the lovely track Running, and recent single Let It Go.

The noise got even louder as Bay continued with Sparks and the magnificent Scars, which fully displayed Bay’s incredible vocals and even led to the crowd taking over.

Moving on to Move Together and Best Fake Smile, an uptempo number which had the Belfast crowd dancing along.

‘Let’s do this again sometime,’ was the message from Bay, who suggested a repeat performance another night in the city - the response was very much in favour of the suggestion.

Bay finished the night with Get Out While You Can, before leaving the stage to rousing applause.

As the chant of ‘Olé, Olé, Olé’ rang around the Ulster Hall, Bay returned to the stage for an encore of Incomplete, If I Ain’t Got You - a magnificent cover of the Alicia Keys song, which gave Bay the chance to show off his musical ability with a long guiter solo.

Finishing the night with the massive hit Hold Back The River, Bay left the stage to thunderous applause.

No doubt Belfast will welcome him back anytime.