Friendly Fires Live at Olympia Theatre

As the dance floor in the Olympia begins to fill up before the gig, I’m suddenly aware of being surrounded by an unusually high proportion of men wearing checked shirts. What could this mean? Am I in for a night of social mediocrity? Have I accidentally crashed an office Christmas party?

Here to distract me from the uneasy sense of being surrounded by people I would normally be talking to at a water cooler are local Dublin boys The Kanyu Tree. Nestled safely in the support slot, they deliver a perfectly acceptable slice of trendy pop with their hit ‘Radio’ receiving a warm reception from the crowd. Frontman Shane Cluskey even busts a few moves – perhaps in tribute to the body-popping talent we have ahead of us.

True to form, when Friendly Fires hit the stage it’s straight into the belly driven cavorting that we know and love. Singer Ed Macfarlane is absolutely captivating as he provides ample energy for both ‘Jump in the Pool’ and ‘Running Away’ in quick succession. It soon becomes apparent that the band isn’t inclined towards between-song banter, but the heaving crowd are enjoying the drum driven numbers far too much to notice.

The new album is given a good airing with ‘True Love’ and ‘Chimes’ going down particularly well. In the case of the latter, Ed manages to get all those checked shirts to sing along “I want you more / I can’t help but want you more” at the top of their increasingly raucous voices.

And want them they certainly do. “We should have played here more often,” Ed says to his adoring Irish fans. “What the fuck was I thinking?”

With the set hurtling to a close, the band play new album title track ‘Pala’ along with the trumpet-less ‘Hurting’. In the absence of their bandmate Richard Turner – who sadly passed away in August this year – the boys have thankfully lost none of their live momentum.

They close with ‘Paris’ and then reward us with a mind blowing encore of (yes, you’ve guessed it) that irresistibly catchy single ‘Hawaiian Air’ – a song which has everybody chanting along outside the venue in cheerful camaraderie. As the audience spills out onto the street, the cold night seems to be completely forgotten. It might be the alcohol, or it might just be the result of hearing a kick-ass set from one of the top indie bands of the moment.