M83 at the Cargo, April 28th

So I finally find my way into the Shoreditch venue and immediately feel the intimidatingly hipster air of the place. I buy myself a drink, scuttle off to the corner of the room and pretend to be interested in the gig leaflets on the side. Luckily, I realise the support band, Kontakte, are about to begin so I hurriedly make my way in to see the band getting ready. I'm greeted by glorious, cacophonous, deafening noise. NOISE. The London band meld shoegaze and post rock effortlessly, their slow ebb of feedback rising and rising, then galloping on into a wall of lush noise, backed by fuzzy JAMC-style beats. Perhaps a reasonable comparison could be made with A Place To Bury Strangers, but with Kontakte there is obviously the post rock influence. Anyway, it was a great set that left me smiling in awe and I'll definitely be following them up.

London audiences are often accused of being hard work and disinterested, but tonight for M83 there was an extraordinary enthusiasm rippling through the crowd. Gonzalez and co.'s entrance on stage was welcomed with mass whooping and hollering, and by the end of the set the crowd were demanding a second encore, the majority staying for several minutes in vain. It reaffirms your love for live music when you see such enthusiasm for the performer. To begin with I felt a little unimpressed with the two guitarists on stage (Gonzalez and someone unknown to me); they seemed a little too pleased with themselves, like snotty teenagers. The drummer was on good form, giving more muscle to what is essentially electronica, and on keyboard there was a lovely spectacle wearing chanteuse, purring out sweet sounds with Gonzalez. On one occasion the drums unfortunately overpowered the keyboards, rendering the melody of the song void, but for the most part they were an important part of the energy of the performance. As the show went on the two guitarists seemed less like snotty teenagers and more like rock guitarists- their slashing guitars producing waves of gorgeous fuzz. Particular standouts were Don't save us from the flames and recent singles like Graveyard Girl and Kim and Jessie. The newer stuff sounded especially great in the live arena. A really enjoyable gig altogether.