In a year when guitar music is meant to be on the way back, Two Door Cinema Club have ridden the cusp of that wave to the brink of success.
Lead singer Alex Trimble had an especially fantastic moment as he appeared as one of the singers at the Olympic opening ceremony, where he sung on "Caliban's Dream" as the torch entered the stadium.
Topping that once-in-a-lifetime moment is no doubt a challenge but his band are making a claim for their own headline shows in such venues. Their second album Beacon was narrowly edged out in a battle for top spot by the Vaccines' underwhelming second album, and their live touring commitments have included a rapturously received sub-headlining slot on the second stage at Reading and Leeds 2012 and a headline gig to 12,000 at the Dublin O2.
Sell out gigs left, right and centre in the UK have been a feature of their year so far, with a further one to 10,000 at Alexandra Palace booked for April.
This gig at Brixton is the end of this leg of UK touring and sees them return to a venue they've headlined twice before - once in 2011 and once on the NME Awards Tour 2012. They certainly arrive on stage with confidence, breezing through Beacon lead single Sleep Alone and then following it up with the classic Undercover Martyn.
The particular strength of the band come from their electro-pop anthems. Swaggering gems littered their 2010 debut record Tourist History and neary all of the album is aired, with the one-two of Do You Want It All and This Is The Life fuelling the start. Blue lighting rods surround what appears to be a rubber dinghy dressed as a satellite while rampant strobing illuminates the Academy.
The material from Beacon sounds stronger in the Academy than on record, where a number of songs failed to hold up in comparison to their debut. But they still lack the rush the debut album tunes such as I Can Talk or the preposterously fast chorus of Something Good Can Work use.
Despite this the crowd lap it up. Every word is yelled back with gusto, which helps out Trimble as the singer tells the crowd he's having vocal problems.
All too soon, the show has rattled by way too quickly. The end of the main set is chalked up with first album song Eat That Up, It's Good For You, where a cargo net holding about 30 balloons is removed and the rubber orbs gracefully spend the rest of the show bouncing around.
A killer encore of Beacon highlight Someday, debut album tune Come Back Home and the truly magnificent What You Know close up the show.
This was not a perfect show. A lot of the Beacon stuff still felt like it lacked something in comparison to the debut record. Also lacking somewhat was the bass, which was diluted on a number of songs - somewhat ironically given the two support acts' reliance on it.
But despite this the overall show was a marvellous experience. If Two Door Cinema Club have ambitions of heading for bigger things they are certainly using their current platform to stake a very convincing claim.
4/5
Also playing at this show were two indie acts - Swim Deep and Bastille. Opener Swim Deep were disappointing, with the band's tunes drowning in a sea of unnecessary bass and despite some enthusiasm from the very front they don't convince. Bastille, by contrast, had a better slot - not least helped by the fact a lot of the crowd was also there to see them. They provide a lovely minimal set of electronic tunes, including one song that provides the closest resemblance of Kraftwek's banks of keyboards at the Tate Modern.
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