Kaiser Chiefs, We Are Scientists, The Chalets @ Muffathalle, Munich

Oh my God, so many witty Kaiser Chiefs song titles, I can’t decide which one to use as opening line. But then, this review isn’t mainly about them, because the support bands stole the show. And that’s only partly due to an electricity failure.

The only newest-wave-of-new-wave band with mainstream appeal this side of the channel, the Chiefs bring out a decidedly unremarkable (but sizeable) audience. Those who have come specifically to see The Chalets are probably the same 90-odd who saw them headline a much smaller venue some months back. But then they deliver the most impressive performance of the night - their usual pop-tastic musically proficient show blowing the minds of all silly indie-rockers present who actually thought they could escape the inescapable charm of the lovely Irish lads’n’lasses. Bringing on Eddie Argos of unlikely indie-heroes Art Brut (they are unbelievably popular in Germany) to “ruin ‘Love Punch’” sets a seal on the evening. Really, it couldn’t get much better.

We Are Scientists: great band, solid performance, but no way they can outdo the Chalets in the entertainment stakes. The usually reliable Chiefs (no matter how underwhelmed you may have been by their retro-lovin’ album, there’s no denying they give you a lot of live bang for your buck) start on top form, but a power cut half way throws them off completely. And so The Chalets remain the surprise success of the evening as they go off into the deep Munich snow, singing songs of summer.