The Beautiful South's greatest hits album Carry on up the Charts was so popular and sold so many copies when it was released in 1994 it was said at the time that one in seven British households owned a copy.

That story may be apocryphal but the fact remains, the enduring quality of Paul Heaton's bitter-sweet lyrics lurking behind bouncy, upbeat country-style tunes touched a nerve and found a niche in the hearts of a certain generation.

And those tunes still have the ability to pull in the crowds.

REVIEW: Gary Barlow at Delamere Forest

Especially when coupled with the distinctive voice of Jacqui Abbott, the second of three female lead singers the Beautiful South had (and in my opinion the best).

She left the band in 2000 but reunited with Paul Heaton more than 10 years later and they have since toured and released three albums together.

And the adoring, sell-out crowd at Friday's gig at Delamere – part of the Forestry Commission’s Forest Live concert series – are proof the formula still works.

There is no doubt the atmosphere at these forest gigs tends to build as night falls and the set list seemed to play along with that, starting with some of Heaton's perhaps lesser-known tracks.

The Lord is a White Con went down well as did One Last Love Song and there was even a nod to Heaton's previous existence with one of the Housemartin's hits, Five Get Over Excited.

Fair play to the duo, it was a brave move to play new music but Seven Inch Single didn't jar, nor did Heaton's love song to his adopted home Manchester. although there was something of a mixed reaction when he name-checked some of the area's more famous sons and daughters: Gary Barlow, Chris Evans, Kerry Katona, Martin Roberts and Rebekah Brooks.

By this time, dusk was falling, the gig somehow seemed more intimate and the big Beautiful South hits seemed to come one after another.

Jacqui Abbott gave a virtuoso version of Rotterdam while Paul Heaton's soaring vocals were sublime on I'll Sail This Ship Alone.

If there was a miss-step, it was the somewhat unusual version of Liar's Bar. The original is a husky-voiced Tom Waits-esque homage to alcohol. On Friday, Heaton opened it in a strange falsetto and then turned it into almost a big band production number.

After dipping into the more recent back catalogue with Silence Is and DIY, we were all set up for the big finish.

Old Red Eyes is Back was followed by singalong favourite Don't Mary Her, giving thousands of people the chance to sing the 'F' word at the tops of their voices.

Perfect 10, Good as Gold (Stupid as Mud) and Song for Whoever left the audience baying for more. And they got it.

A country and western version of A Little Time led in to a perfect finale with Heaton and Abbott dipping again into the Housemartin's back catalogue.

As giant coloured balloons bounced around the heads Happy Hour sent everyone home happy indeed.