Explosions In The Sky, Roundhouse Theatre, London

The problem with instrumental or post-rock gigs is that a lot of the time, nobody in the audience knows what to do. Most stand, slightly awkwardly, hands in pockets, nodding in some sort of rhythm to the music; a couple of die hard fans give it all they’ve got, but mostly it’s just a room of music fans standing and appreciating music politely. You know what? That’s just fine when the music in question is as stunning as Explosions In The Sky.

After thanking London for their continued dedication to the band, Explosions launch straight into ‘Last Known Surroundings’, first track from new album ‘Take Care, Take Care, Take Care’. Bar from a little excess feedback, the sonic qualities are incredible – this is a band who know what they’re doing (and who presumably have a sound man who’s also very good at his job).

The rest of the set is an impressive performance, peaking somewhere in the second half with what is an intense and mind-blowing trio of tracks: ‘The Only Moment We Were Alone’, ‘Your Hand In Mine’ and ‘The Birth and Death of the Day’. Arguably the band’s biggest hits, all three transfer spectacularly from record to live show. The apocalyptic explosions (heh, get it?) of ‘The Birth and Death of the Day’ coupled with the house lights shining bright in everybody’s eyes is quite the spectacle. One could almost be forgiven for believing the small group of Americans who are convinced the rapture is coming on Saturday – for a brief moment in this set it felt like the world could well end immediately. It’d certainly be a shame if it did, but what better way to be plunged into eternal damnation than at the hands of one of the world’s finest instrumental bands?