Noah & The Whale, 9:30 Club, Washington DC

Perhaps Noah and the Whale are perceived as folky lightweights on the British music scene; an unfortunate and unfair assessment that should be caught and shot dead right now, based on the brilliant sonic and visual spectacle they put on at Washington’s 9:30 Club. The last time Noah and the Whale played here was 2009, at the smaller Black Cat. The band were understandably apprehensive playing in an unfamiliar city and to an unfamiliar crowd, and they looked like they’re just rolled off the back of a farmer’s lorry in plaid shirts and jeans. For this occasion, they wear smart suits and ties, showing definite maturity and confidence. But not to worry: Tom Hobden is still playing his fiddle, folks.

The opening number ‘Give a Little Love’ from the band’s 2008 debut album ‘Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down’ comes in and thunders along like a storm. It ends with a monster jam outro, guitars screaming, that you would have never expected from this band a couple years ago. Something also completely unexpected: the dynamic light show, with strobes flashing in time to the rhythms, the kind you anticipate at a Pendulum or Phoenix show. Years ago Charlie Fink and co. were playing hole in the wall clubs. Now, it appears they are ready for… stadiums.

The visual display works extremely well in tandem with the 18-song set list, showing the strength of both the band’s admittedly more downbeat back catalogue and their new synth-loving, positive thinking, forward-looking album, ‘Last Night on Earth’. The expansive ‘Blue Skies’ from 2009’s ‘The First Days of Spring’ and recent singles ‘L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N’ and ‘Tonight’s the Kind of Night’ lead to all-out squealing and dancing. But even so, the moment inevitably comes when the band have to wheel out ‘5 Years Time’. Some explanation: the American Noah and the Whale experience is starkly different than the British one; most people’s first taste of this group was when this particular song appeared on a 2008 American television car advert. But despite how annoying you might think the advert was, it did have the benefit of introducing America to the then indie folk pop band. It’s funny; hearing this song in the context of ‘Last Night on Earth’ shows exactly how far Noah and the Whale has come in three short years.

Some have harshly criticised the band’s new-found embracing of electronics, but really, this should be viewed as an intelligent tactical move. The devoted from the early days may still be in some shock, but Charlie Fink’s songwriting abilities have soared, not been held back, by this development. It works. Whether or not they planned it, Noah and the Whale are now true rock stars.