Rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds performed a surprise gig on top of a Brighton record shop on Friday.

The band made an appearance on Resident Music’s roof in The Lanes area at 11am, covering T Rex’s renowned track “Cosmic Dancer”, alongside a range of fan favourites.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds began their set with “Train Long Suffering” from the 1985 studio album The Firstborn Is Dead, which the 68-year-old singer last performed in Brighton in the year of its release.

As the song finished, Cave shouted over rapturous applause: “Thank you. F** Brighton. What a thing to be doing.”

Cave then went to the piano for his cover of “Cosmic Dancer” which was accompanied by a violin solo from bandmate Warren Ellis.

The band also played “Henry Lee”, which saw one of their backing singers Janet Ramus perform PJ Harvey’s part of the song, and saw Cave give a shout out to his wife Susie and son Earl who were watching on the balcony of the shop.

Cave, who is due to perform at the city’s Preston Park on Friday night, finished with a singalong rendition of “Papa Won’t Leave You Henry”.

At the end of the performance, he said: “See you tonight. Thank you, thank you, Resident Records, for this best f** record shop in the world.”

On Friday, visitors to Brighton Station were greeted by a “welcome to Brighton Station” message recorded by Cave.

Cave has returned to the town he used to live in for the concert, which will see him supported by The Flaming Lips, English Teacher, Cate Le Bon, and Warmduscher.

The record shop has hosted a pop-up shop for the band in the run-up to the gig which has allowed fans to send letters to Cave’s Red Hand Files blog, which sees him answer questions as well as purchase exclusive items.

Brighton’s Duke of York’s Picturehouse cinema will also screen five films selected by Cave with a special pre-recorded introduction by the singer.

The Australian musician is widely known for his tracks “Red Right Hand”, “Into My Arms” and “O Children”, having also collaborated with Kylie Minogue on “Where the Wild Roses Grow”.