The Immediate live at The Black Box, Belfast

It’s all very free-spirited, some might even say immoral. Certainly relations within The Immediate are unconventional: band members frequently change places, instruments are swapped and vocal duties rotated. The songs twist and turn too, leading us astray in the very best sense. There’s a playful grope with U2 here, a quick fumble with Talking Heads there and a covert, climactic Krautrock fondle at the end.
By the close of this, their fourth Belfast date in 12 months, these youthful swingers have succeeded in seducing every man, woman and bouncer in the Black Box. You just cannot help, but be impressed by the dextrous musical ability on display. Tonight’s performance is frantic, varied and always compelling: the collective attention deficit disorder of The Immediate finds them attuned to some strange frequency, constantly in flux.
For their part, the punters are enticed ever closer to the stage, all the better to witness the artful channelling of our sonic spiritualists. Highlight of the night is ‘Stop and Remember’, its glorious, Gang of Four guitars and vocals delivered with a barely restrained intensity. Like David Banner morphing into The Incredible Hulk, the track is simultaneously terrifying and captivating. You may think you’ve heard it all before, but The Immediate deliver with such aplomb, that the punch-line remains a knockout.