Delphic [Live]

Indie gets an edge on a cold Liverpudlian night.

Recently I seem to have developed a nasty habit of arriving late to gigs and missing out on some rather decent support acts, tonight was not one of those nights. Yes I managed to get there on time, but within a handful of offerings from Gorton VS. Berger I was wishing I hadn't been so punctual. While I initially felt optimistic about the duo's deep and glitchy electronica which felt right at home in Korova's dark basement venue any such feelings faded as the set dragged on without so much as a break to differentiate between any tracks. Perhaps had I been quite drunk in some seedy industrial-chic club this could have gone down a treat; but an entertaining show it certainly was not with next to no movement from the pair besides some borderline humping of the keyboards a companion of mine likened to "some kind of weird full body tourettes". Imagine The Juan Maclean, now take out every drop of charisma and hey presto. 1/5

Now for something completely different. I've had the pleasure of seeing Two Door Cinema Club a handful of times back on their native Northern Irish soil and to this day they still deliver a crowd-pleasing set. The previously limp Korova is transformed into a bouncing indie disco with the likes of 'Cigarettes In The Theatre' as the band move like seasoned pros through a jam-packed set, with notably no low points in terms of vocal deliverance. It may seem odd to find fault with this level of professionalism but in spite of some welcome chat from the onstage act there was something a little over-rehearsed to the set - as if the boys had spent too long on the road playing the same old songs. It was refreshing to see that with newer offerings like single 'I Can Talk' Two Door Cinema Club seemed to rise in optimism and have plenty of fun, overall playing a tight set that really warmed up the crowd. 3/5

The Mancunian boys of Delphic have had quite a year - Creamfields; T In The Park; Leeds and Reading Festivals were played, and as if they felt that they had something to prove off the back of these they delivered a thoroughly entertaining and inventive show. Not to say that I wasn't expecting good things, in fact since hearing earlier single 'Counterpoint' I had been really looking forward to this show but I hadn't anticipated the extent to which they would explore with additonal electronic effects, almost to the point of remixing well-circulated singles. Think of the melancholy warblings and feeble attempts at 'new new-wave' White Lies put forward earlier this year and now imagine that such efforts had a not so evil twin sibling: enter Delphic! Sadly with all my good intentions of arriving early I had to make an early exit from the gig due to the national rail's poor timetabling of trains and missed a sizable portion of Delphic's set. From a reliable source I was informed that the show did eventually grow quite tired, perhaps given the degree to which the whole set was kicked off, as if they pulled too much out of the bag just a little too soon. What I can say is that they left a lasting impression on myself, and it seems as though Delphic will round off their good year in similarly high spirits. 3.5/5