The Horrors

For a band I often associate with shoegaze, a genre named due to its purveyors’ supposedly static and detached live performances, the Horrors sure put on an energetic show. Entirely ignoring their debut album, their set skips between the best of the Mercury-shortlisted Primary Colours and their critically acclaimed latest, Skying. Although the band kicks off with a bit of a slow burner, they hit their stride by the third song, the anthemic 'I Can See Through You'.

Frontman Faris Badwan barely glances at his feet whilst he delivers his breathy, reverb-heavy vocals, with his voice often acting more as an additional instrument than an avenue for lyrics. The combination of bassist Rhys Webb’s bizarre yet thoroughly entrancing style of dancing, and the heavy presence of keyboards and soaring synths means there’s plenty to watch onstage before the five-piece slow the set down for a mellow finish.

Dual crowd-pleasers 'Sea Within A Sea' and 'Still Life' close the performance, the former in all its 8-minute pulsing glory, and the latter uplifting and awash with swooping guitar. The Horrors then ramp-up the energy once more for the encore, which is undoubtedly the highlight of the set. It culminates in an extended jam of 'Moving Further Away', which sees a wonderfully chaotic My Bloody Valentine-style guitar solo and distorted microphone feedback abound. It's a solid performance and the final rings of the wall of sound leave the audience satisfied.

Although the crowd contains plenty of guys sporting ridiculous Horrors-style backcombed hair, this gig shows the band themselves have certainly come a long way from their image-centric roots.