65daysofstatic w/ Loops Haunt, Crawdaddy, Dublin

“Wow, that’s strange” - these are my first words upon entering Crawdaddy last Saturday. I notice there’s already a setup of some description on stage. The doors have barely been open ten minutes at this point, and it takes me a minute to twig that Loops Haunt is actually doing his thing already. Quickest time from doors to start of support act ever?

It’s easy to appreciate what he’s doing, but hard to love it, as such, and many of the twenty or so people who are in at this point seem to agree. However, there’s something more than a tad mesmerising about the way he approaches his music on stage, huddled over his Mac and samplers, and I’m soon enjoying myself. This man without a name makes for an engaging live performer, and it’s clear he appreciates our applause. Crowd interaction of any sort is met with a smile in fact - even when a broken sampler is greeted with ironic cheers, he laps it up. He departs after scarcely half an hour, in the absolute shyest way possible: with a timid wave, he sidles off stage.

In the end, we’re brought round to him, and he leaves to cheers. By now, the 400-capacity venue is filling up as final checks are made. An interesting twenty-minute mashup is played over the PA as this is done, featuring everyone from Lady Gaga to Foals to Radiohead. The more well-known material that crops up helps to warm the ever-swelling crowd up, as the anticipation builds to fever pitch.

Then, suddenly, the mix fizzles out as the band make their staggered entrance. The opening bars of ‘Go Complex’ play out as they take up their positions, then things begin in earnest. The band’s new album ‘We Were Exploding Anyway’ is heavily rooted in all kinds of dance music, and comes across incredibly well live. Their set-up is relatively stripped back, which sends out the signal that their more grandiose material (i.e. most of the songs off third album ‘The Destruction of Small Ideas’) is going to be overlooked.

However, if there’s anything that’s stuck with the Sheffield band throughout their career, it’s their intensity, and as the opener reaches its soaring finale, every single member of the audience realises that they’re in for a good time. And they are.

It’s followed by ‘Piano Fights’, the one track on the new record that is most reminiscent of their earlier material. Everybody in the front three rows is at something or other at this stage: some of us are dancing, while others are (rather surprisingly) pogoing. You should never try to pogo to something in an unconventional time signature (the song moves in 11/8); it just doesn’t work.

Dancing does, though. In fact, it works so well that lead guitarist Paul Wolinski is impressed. He’s also noticed that there are about two rows free up front. “What’s all this invisible space up front?,” he quips playfully after the song finishes. As though noticing it for the first time, we gratefully make use of said space - and just in time too, for next up are a pair of old favourites, ‘Await Rescue’ and ‘Retreat! Retreat, which are delivered with as much gusto as ever. Now things are really taking off for us.

It is the new material’s danceability that ensures it goes down a storm, though, and there is some serious movement up front as the quartet tear through a trio of fresh cuts: the aptly-monikered ‘Dance Dance Dance’ appears either side of singles ‘Crash Tactics’ and ‘Weak4’ (the latter of which features a particularly impressive performance from drummer Rob Jones - working himself into an absolute frenzy; something you’d have to have been there for).

Afterwards, Wolinski reveals that this particular gig is 65’s 40th in six weeks - and, to rapturous cheers from the the best one so far, according to him. He then goes off on a tangent, saying how accustomed he’s become to being up almost constantly (‘When you go to sleep tonight … think of me - I’ll be awake’). Only two breaks on the tour so far? Well, if he hadn’t told us I’d scarcely believe it - he’s about as energetic as they come.

The sole respresentative from ‘Destruction’ is rolled out next, a razor-sharp take on ‘A Failsafe’. Stripped of all its recorded sheen, it trades dramatics for power. As the song hurtles towards its finish at breakneck speed, those of us who aren’t moving are stood paying rapt attention to the group. They play their instruments with such an intensity it’s hard not to be transfixed.

The band change gears afterwards, taking things at a gentler pace for ‘Fix The Sky A Little’, one of ‘The Fall of Math”s highlights that most of the crowd can only stand and appreciate. Some of us do try dancing to it though, and it’s an unexpected and amusing spectacle.

The band step things up again for one of the new album’s highlights, ‘Mountainhead’ which comes across as far beefier in a live setting than it does on record - and that’s an achievement in itself, as ‘We Were Exploding Anyway’ was created with the live show in mind. It is intense, but not half as much as what follows it. The band’s signature track ‘65 Doesn’t Understand You’ is greeted with roars of delight from the crowd. There’s even some moshing towards the song’s finish - yet another unexpected thing.

The last song of the main set is the ten-minute masterpiece known as ‘Tiger Girl’. The band’s new-found liking for euphoric electronica culminated in this skyscraping epic, which does nothing but climb to new heights before collapsing noisily in on itself. As the song swells, I manage a glance around me and see that everyone’s getting into it, and it strikes me as amazing how well the band can transition from such tracks as ‘65’ into cathartic soundscapes such as this.

At the end of it all, Wolinski falls to his knees, his guitar bringing to song to a close, the other members of the group having long since departed. The place is absolutely buzzing at this point, and after a performance such as this, the band deserve their reception, without a shadow of a dobnt. Shouts of ‘One more tune!’ fill the venue, and the band happily oblige.

We are thanked for ‘being so alive’, before the first of two encores is rolled out in the form of ‘Debutante’. ‘We have time for two more - but they’re sad songs’, Wolinski tells us - not that it deters us in the slightest. We do our best to make the most of the slower-paced seven-minute track, and despite being markedly diferent from everything else on show, it goes down a storm.

The band save the best for last, however, with their high water mark, a song that would make a perfect ending to any gig: ‘Radio Protector’. I must admit, it’s my favourite song of all time by a considerable distance, and seeing it live is an experience I’ll treasure forever. From almost funereal beginnings, the song’s pace quickens and 65 proceed to bring the curtain down on a truly special gig. The intimate surroundings help to bring the group’s sound to life in breathtaking fashion.

There’s a real rapport between band and crowd for this very reason, and we’re sent home, perfectly content. Earlier in the show, we’re told it’s been a while since 65 have been in Crawdaddy - ‘playing to only three of you’, in Wolinski’s words. We’ve turned out in force, though, and the group clearly enjoy themselves on stage. Again, 40 gigs in six weeks.

Whatever way you want to look at it: This band is unstoppable.