After the 2007 release of The Horror’s garage-punk debut Strange House, droves of hairspray-wielding scenesters pledged their allegiance to the band, but there were accusations of style over substance from music critics.

The release of this year’s follow-up album Primary Colours, however, put paid to any doubt about the band’s validity, garnering unadulterated adoration from all corners.

Channelling influences such as My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division and Can, The Horrors’ live show optimised the electronics and multi-layering of their music, filling Concorde 2 with a thick blanket of sound. The band radiated energy into the snow-chilled crowd, and excited fans jumped, whooped and crowd-surfed under the relentless coloured lights.

Lead singer Faris Badwan performed effortlessly, smouldering intensely over the microphone during instrumental sections.

Tracks such as the brilliant Velvet Underground-esque I Only Think of You transcended the recorded versions, the twisted chords pushed to their distorted limits. The highlight was the epic Sea Within A Sea at the end, as the band pulled out all the stops before casually downing tools and sauntering off-stage.

With a terminally long pause before the encore, some left, thinking the fat lady was at the mic. But the crowd noise finally paid off and the lads reappeared.

Throwing their black-clad limbs into overdrive, The Horrors sent their audience back into the cold night with a kick of pure rock ’n’ roll adrenalin.

Georgina Harris