Mercury Prize winners Elbow became the first rock band to play in St Paul’s Cathedral.
The cathedral – designed by Sir Christopher Wren more than 300 years ago – is more usually a venue for state occasions such as royal weddings and funerals.
But it rang out with chart hits such as Grounds For Divorce and One Day Like This as the quintet played a one-off show in the cathedral’s Crypt on Thursday.
The Crypt is more usually known as a burial place and includes the tombs of Admiral Nelson, The Duke of Wellington, Sir Joshua Reynolds and Henry Moore.
The show came just two months after Elbow played beneath another more rock-friendly dome, the O2 Arena, as part of their latest tour.
Singer Guy Garvey said: “This is a bit unusual, isn’t it? Apart from being a lovely room, it’s steeped in history. Whatever you believe, you can’t help but feel something where people really believe. This is a big thing for us.”
Guests at the show included Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood.
Elbow, from Bury in Greater Manchester, played songs largely drawn from new album Build A Rocket Boys!, including Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl and Lippy Kids.
The band also played songs from each of their previous four albums, including Great Expectations and Switching Off.
The concert was organised by Absolute Radio and follows other gigs in unusual locations such as the first rock performance at the Palace of Westminster with Biffy Clyro last year. Elbow’s concert at St Paul’s will be broadcast on Absolute Radio on June 5 – and shown at www.absoluteradio.co.uk.