18.25, Radio 1 Stage

Radio 4, standing at the side of the stage, must be feeling green with envy. For while they’re adored by the critics, it’s not the critics who pay the bills – it’s the fans who go out and buy the records. And, following the release of one very good single (‘Bandages’) and another that’s something of a grower (‘No, Not Now’), HOT HOT HEAT have fans aplenty. On this showing, it’s not hard to see why. Seemingly endless touring can come to sap a band of all their energy and enthusiasm, and reduce the process of playing live to the status of mindless drudgery - or it can do the opposite, the different elements of the band becoming so tightly-knit that they fuse together, to devastating effect. Thankfully for Hot Hot Heat, it seems to have been the latter. Steve Bays has hip-shimmying moves that even Bobby Gillespie would be jealous of, as well as a peculiarly distinctive vocal style, while they have a well-stocked arsenal of excellent songs from Make Up The Breakdown behind them. Watching with no expectations, I’m thoroughly impressed.