SINGAPORE - I’d never thought I’d enjoy myself at a Norah Jones concert. I’m not a massive fan and I’ve always felt her delivery was too affected and put me to sleep. However, I was totally blown away by her performance at the Star Theatre on Wednesday night.

Support act Cory Chisel and Adriel Harris were a pleasant surprise to the proceedings. “We’re the show you didn’t know you were going to see,” said Chisel by way of introduction. With just a guitar and keyboards - and with Chisel sounding like a cross between Bruce Springsteen and Phil Collins, with a bit of Bob Dylan thrown in - their simple-but-effective set was the perfect start to the show.

Then it was time for Norah Jones to come onthe whole show took on a happy vibe from the get-go, as Jones, dressed in a simple red dress, and very ably backed by her quartet, kicked off with Happy Pills (from her latest album, Little Broken Hearts).

Jones incorporated enough dynamics into the show to keep fans engaged, switching from keyboards to guitar and back again, going solo at the piano - with a lovely rendition of Don’t Know Why – and ending off the main set with an “unplugged” segment.

Sure, the whole concert had a esoteric rootsy, country feel, which made for a very intimate show, despite the largesse of the venue. And Lana Del Rey can take lessons from Jones on how to do haunting tunes without coming across as an overly melodramatic queen.

Kudos must be also be given to the superb band - Pete Remm on keyboards, Jason Roberts on guitars, Josh Lattanzi on bass and Greg Wiz on drums – who were spot-on with their delivery, offering just enough sparkle and flashes of brilliance without looking like show-offs.

Jones tackled songs from Little Breaks Hearts with aplomb – indeed, the album is probably her best work to date; threw in a few fan favourites from her previous albums (including a fantastic rendition of Stuck, featuring a searing guitar solo from Roberts), a new song (Hey You), and a two very lovely covers – Hickory Wind by Gram Parsons (bringing Chisel and Harris back on stage), and Cold Cold Heart by Hank Williams.

It was simply one of the most sublime concerts I’ve been to in quite a while, where the performance of the music took centrestage.

And not once did I feel like nodding off.