WERE we meant to be silent, or only the performers? Although some would argue the audience’s reaction forms part of the composition, a reverential hush was sustained throughout Cage’s most audacious work, 4’33’’. No coughs, nor chuckles.

There aren’t really any protocols for something like this – a piece comprising three movements without intentional sounds. The nearest thing is perhaps the two minutes’ silence of Remembrance Sunday, yet there’s nothing funereal or elegiac about Cage’s work.

Far from it. This performance (‘gig’ or ‘concert’ seem inappropriate), principally by members of electro-psychedelic group Fixers, underlined how Cage’s vision was life-affirming, forward-looking and theatrical, music being “purposeless play”. Starting with improvised pieces by affable guitarist Ian Staples, who conjured up gamelan-type sounds from his Fender as well as discordant riffs and bluesy licks, the event was relaxed and irony-free.

The predominantly young audience nodded approvingly and applauded after each piece had finished, although it wasn’t easy to know when the boundary-stretching, abstract works were starting or ending. The ethereal Inlets featured a conch shell being used as a trumpet, for example, and other shells filled with water being shaken to elicit gurgling sounds. Water Walk, performed by Ian Staples, deployed a repertoire of household items that included a bath and a radio.

Given the disorienting effect of the performance – and the heat in the pub’s crowded upper room – I was relieved that the evening featured only half of the 90-minute Indeterminacy. An assortment of soft voiced musings (many on the topic of mushrooms, which explained why everyone attending was offered a free mushroom-shaped cookie) punctuated by electro-acoustic jabs and swirls, this composition was the most challenging of the night.

But, for all the studied absurdity, it was also invigorating and prompted plenty of healthy debate in the bar downstairs afterwards.