White Lung, The Flapper, Birmingham

With blue skies and sunshine reflecting on the canals outside, a dark basement room is one of the last places anyone in Birmingham wants to be on an evening like this. But from the moment the band take their positions under the stage lights, the night belongs to White Lung. Following supports Apathy and You Dirty Blue, the excitement is already high – but it’s nothing compared to what’s next.

Emerging from the darkness with barely a word, White Lung transport the room through a whirlwind of searing riffs, shimmering refrains, and dazzling vocals. It’s a rare and raw splendour that the group bring to life – and one that lands the room in a state of hypnotic awe before the energy can start to kick in.

Their performance hurtles towards the crowd at a breakneck speed. Mish Barber-Way’s vocals cut through the speakers with an icy allure. Kenneth William’s guitar riffs burn so bright they could blind, flooding thickly and seamlessly from stage left. Equal parts chilling and thrilling, not a person gathered can tear their eyes away.

New album ‘Paradise’ may be only three weeks old, but the songs from the release are met with more fervour than any. The glistening melodies of ‘Below’ and the raging intensity of ‘Dead Weight’ prove particular highlights, entrancing with an intense velocity as Mish struts and strikes poses from centre stage.

It’s a hypnotising performance, and one that seems to end all too soon, leaving the crowd stepping, awed and ears ringing, out of the venue and back to reality.