And it’s that sense of guns-out rebellion that Azealia Banks evokes when 212 drops and she gets the entire crowd (made up of mostly middle class indie kids) to scream “I guess that c**t gettin’ eatin’”. It’s not something you see every day, even in London.
But there’s more to this 20-year-old from Harlem than YouTube’s underground anthem for the winter. Stomping around with mega-lashings of attitude, in jeans, a black bra and a wide brimmed hat, Banks’ rapping is fast, furious and flawless.
A rendition of Valerie proves she’s also got the vocal chords to rival the late Amy Winehouse and sets Banks up to be a tough act for three indie bands to follow.
Next up is Tribes, with self-aware-but-bloody-catchy pop rock. The petulant riff-slamming of We Were Children is anthemic enough to be stadium-worthy, but they lack onstage substance to make it any different from slapping on a CD.
But this isn’t the case for Metronomy’s synth-heavy glum-pop. There’s an 80s-tastic performance of old favourite, Heartbreaker, before a creepy (in a good way) Everything Goes My Way – lights attached to the band members’ chests flash out of the darkness to match the slow tempo. The discordant but ultra-danceable A Thing For Me pulls things back round to upbeat pop.
And that’s just in time for Two Door Cinema Club. Their new material sounds suspiciously like their debut album hit Undercover Martyn, but who cares? They sound the same, but their catchy, jangly tunes – notably I Can Talk and What You Know – end the night on a high.
