In 1966, Bob Dylan was branded Judas for picking up an electric guitar. In 2008, Josh Ritter, a Dylan disciple, is finding the attention his literate folk music deserves by succumbing to the instrument’s forbidden charms.

It was the right decision. First, it ensured that The Historic Conquests of Josh Ritter, the Idaho singersongwriter’s latest effort, was a boisterous affair, filled with radio-friendly rockabilly. Secondly, it has endowed Ritter with an eclectic, exuberant live show.

He brought this to the Bloomsbury Ballroom last night. Opening with Mind’s Eye — more Clash than Cash in its spiky menace — his two-hour set was no shoe-gazing affair.

The fun continued with To The Dogs Or Whoever, a swashbuckling singalong referencing everything from Joan of Ark to Florence Nightingale, all inside the belly of a whale.

While the pace slowed, the quirkiness never let up. The Temptation of Adam was a breathless acoustic ballad about love in the most unlikely of places: a missile silo. Thin Blue Flame, a 10-minute epic, was performed in total darkness.

“Am I making all the right moves/Am I singing you the right blues?” questioned Ritter in recent single Right Moves. Don’t think twice, it’s all right.