Those who have not been to the Isis Farmhouse recently will be struck by its transformation under new management, as of Spring 2017. Noreen Cullen and Adrian Burns are musicians with infectious energy, and have reinvented the well-loved quirky old pub as a full-on music venue. On Saturday night the Isis played host simultaneously to a cheerfully raucous night of blues/roots music headlined by the Great Western Tears in the bar and a full-scale dance party to the Afro-Celt music of Baka Beyond in the garden marquee.

While the marketing tagline for the gig has Andy Kershaw calling them ‘a definition of world music’, in some respects Baka Beyond are a band in a category of their own: a core of musicians with Celtic traditional roots that for decades have been drawing directly on the rhythms and harmonies of a specific indigenous forest-dwelling people (the Baka) in Cameroon, and maintaining cultural connections and a channel of financial aid to them. The band has been going for a long time – this was the last night of their 25th anniversary tour – and both the musical concept and the audience demographic are showing their age a little. But it remains a winning formula; the band generate immense energy and a rich wall of sound, and by halfway through the evening everyone was dancing with big smiles on their faces.

To create the garden performance space, the previous barn room (suited to relatively intimate shows) has been opened up and now comprises a much larger stage facing directly out into the marquee. Last night this enabled a large crowd to bounce around with great energy but still no shortage of personal space. There was a festival feel, with multi-coloured lighting everywhere, a barbecue putting out decent burgers, a tolerable wait at the bar, a campfire defying the intermittent drizzle, and some zany characters getting on down.

The current lineup of the band is Martin Cradick (bass), Kibisingo Douglas (bass), Su Hart (vocals), Ellie Jamison (vocals, percussion), Clyde Kramer (drums) and Ayodele Scott (multi-instrumentalist including several traditional African instruments). The last of these is the stand-out performer for me throughout the night, driving the most memorable rhythms and anchoring the undulating layers of vocals with his percussion. Su Hart engages most with the audience, exhorting us to dance and describing the inspirations behind many of the songs with an ecstatic smile never leaving her face. Martin Cradick, co-writer of most of the songs, conducts proceedings and makes an impassioned appeal before the halfway break for support for the Baka who live an increasingly precarious life between deforestation and ethnic discrimination.

Baka Beyond, after 25 years, can still reliably put on a fantastic and hugely danceable performance rippling with energy and positivity. At the climax of the show, the landlady (a violinist of some distinction, and evidently relishing the role of hostess) ran upstairs for her violin and added a feverish and strikingly lyrical high note to the finale. The pub seems to be in good hands, and Baka Beyond’s achievements were suitably celebrated on Saturday night.