Hard House with a sharp injection of rock is what opened the night’s shenanigans courtesy of Germany’s T. Raumschmiere. We were treated to a grown man exorcising his demons on a live stage and I haven’t been that entertained for years. He resembled a crazed priest as he threw out tunes attributed to his menagerie of casioesque keyboards and stalked the stage shouting, “I am a rock n roll disaster.” He entranced a crowd that were primarily there for the boys from New York but few could say that they went untouched by the beats and grooved along duly. It was a sea of addictive head nodding while Mr. Raumschmiere mixed, shouted, and got semi naked! I’m sure somewhere on this globe Iggy is chanting “my work here is done,” but all I know is that I want this guy to play at my wedding!

Futureheads

I was looking forward to seeing this support band again after catching them replacing The Hope of the States on the NME tour in February. I thought they were great then and they certainly did not disappoint this time. The Sunderland 4-piece look like the sort of boys who you could easily take home to meet your parents. What makes them exciting is the fact that they look so normal. Ross would not look out of place in the quiet of a library and Barry has his shirt buttoned right up and when he shuffles about he could easily be mistaken for a young Paul Weller.

The set is so exciting because of their genuine passion and enthusiasm for the music. Their post punk/ska songs are short and fast and have all the energy to make for a thrilling set. Their voices are strong and distinct and the harmonies work brilliantly. The stand out track is their last single “First Day”, hopefully they will make it and never have to experience a first day as described in their song!

Near the end of the set Ross pleaded with the crowd “If you are going to dance for me tonight do it now!” before launching into Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love which was the highlight of the set for me. They are everything that the record industry needs right now.

The Rapture

It was obvious that the majority of the crowd were huge fans of the New York art rockers. The light show was very pretty, lots of colours and glistening fairy lights against a backdrop of white added to the atmosphere.

They started their set off with a new song, which is a brave thing to do considering the song is fairly mellow. They sound less contrived than on CD. Their live sound is so spontaneous and disarming you forget to award yourself smug trainspotting points. They really seem to be winging it in comparison to somebody like Interpol and don’t even seem to be considering that what they’re doing couldn’t not be fun.

The crowd, a mixture of dorks and the condemned cool, were certainly up for it especially when they played Sister Savior and probably their best song, House of the Jealous Lovers, which they played at the end of the set. Oddly they didn’t play Love Is All. Their encore comprised solely of covers including a cover of a Psychedelic Furs song called Dumb Waiter, which was probably chosen for it’s cool saxophone part. The night ended with balloons cascading from the ceiling and most people left happy and glowing.