Best Coast + Spectrals, Manchester Academy 2

Of all the gigs to bring a dog to, it had to be this. If there’s one thing that Bethany Consentino is famous for – well, it’s probably her music actually, but other than that, it’s definitely her love of cats. She’s had videos full of the things, her debut album as Best Coast features her own feline, Snacks, as the cover star and she even finds time to dedicate a track to the moggy, currently miaowing a lone furrow back in California. But still, despite all this, toward the back of the venue a dog roams free, taking in the vibes.

Perhaps animal involvement should’ve been taken as an omen that this wasn’t going to be a standard gig. Leeds act Spectrals open up proceedings with their brand of dozy surf pop, which sounds more polished each time they come back to the city. An audience filled with teenagers pay just enough attention, the weird acoustics of an awkward venue not quite giving the 5 piece the necessary firepower to win over any new fans, but carrying on solidly regardless.

Any kind of indifference is swept aside long before Best Coast take to the stage, and by the time Boyfriend – the fifth song of the set – kicks in, a small section of the fresh faced crowd decide to join her on it. The most notable thing about it all is how natural it all feels, of young kids genuinely just wanting to get on stage and dance with one of their favourite pop stars.

With the bouncers braced for a heavy night, the rest of the set goes by without offering anything nearly as rambunctious, perhaps due, in part, to the fact that new songs are introduced into the mix, somewhat nullifying the arm-pumping that marked the start of the show. The new efforts, at the very least, appear to be in keeping with the general direction of her move away from the noise experimentation of her early years towards a more pop-punk racket (something echoed by her boyfriend’s efforts in Wavves, coincidentally).

Despite a largely impressive showing, a gig at Manchester’s Club Academy rarely manages to move away from the creeping sense that it’s merely a holding area. For most of the bands that pass through its doors, it’s the last throes of stardom being encountered, the chances of selling out anything larger gone and the remaining fans only just interested enough to buy most of the few hundred tickets available. For Bethany and Best Coast, it’s something different entirely. She is a star, a woman with a voice that belies her slightly scuzzy aesthetic and with a genuine talent for writing really good, accessible pop songs. It’s likely that the next time she’s ambushed by Mancunian youths it’ll be on an even bigger stage still – hopefully with a dog lurking at back again, too.