Wild Beasts – Shepherd's Bush Empire, London 23/11/11

There’s something about the atmosphere in London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire tonight which suggests the people in this room aren’t so much anticipating a good show from Kendal boys Wild Beasts, as waiting for a performance that they know will be nothing if not great.

It’s a different form of anticipation – not like the buzz that surrouns a hyped-up band in a sweaty basement venue who might just pull out something unexpectedly mind-blowing to the smug and well-informed audience – or, just as likely, fail spectacularly, leaving the bloggers embarrassed and reeling with disappointment.

It’s also not the frenzied excitement which comes with well-established acts whose very presence on stage, regardless of their performance, is enough to completely relieve many members of the crowd of any sort of dignified cool as they release their pent-up devotion to the performers in excited squeals, whether it’s for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bloc Party or Justin Bieber.

The promise of Wild Beasts this evening doesn’t elicit this from the audience – they’re much more relaxed and everyone knows exactly what they’re in for and the band don’t fall short. Hayden Thorpe’s trademark falsetto sweeps through the room for ‘The Fun Powder Plot’ and the head-bobbing and foot-tapping to the off-beat indie-pop begins. When Thorpe’s bandmate Tom Fleming takes his (fairly) regular place at the mic, his resonant and powerful tones are just as impressive. Together, the two create an odd but perfectly-pitched anterior to the almost-but-not-quite danceable tunes.

That said, Chris Talbot’s effortlessly tight and powerful percussion is also essential, propelling the band through ‘Reach A Bit Further’ and ‘Bed of Nails’ and moving us a little more while guitarist Ben Little punctures the air with screeching off-beats. Red and blue lights flare across the stage keeping eyes captivated, while Sky Larkin’s Katie Harkin – playing alongside the band tonight – sways at the side of the stage. As Thorpe points out, she makes the indie-boys’ unit look a little ‘prettier’ and glides over keys adding a fullness to the sound, and a feminine touch to the vocals.

It’s hard to find a single complaint with the show tonight. I even find myself striking up a conversation with a red-headed woman that turns out to be Metronomy’s drummer (and huge fan) Anna Prior.

Wild Beasts also have the rare ability of injecting some rawness into their live set. Their songs might be familiar but when Thorpe’s voice mutates into an impressively masculine snarl – at once laughable and brilliant – it feels like something entirely new.

They close the main set with ‘Hooting and Howling’, their most radio-friendly number from second album Two Dancers, which gets even the most self-conscious gig-goer mouthing along. Of course, they’re back on the stage for a three song encore that culminate with the intoxicating ‘End Come Too Soon’. The song breaks down from the repetitive incantation of its title (a sentiment shared by the audience too) into a fuzz of noise and feedback-laden weirdness for what seems like whole minutes, before they plunge back in for a final recital, and the highlight of the set. We leave the venue smiling but there’s not a lot to say: It was a good one. We knew it would be.