Wolf Alice, Alexandra Palace, London

Back in 2013, a much-hyped Wolf Alice rocked up to their headline show at London’s Lexington – the 300-capacity site of their then biggest gig to date – and proceeded to have an absolute ‘mare. Amps broke, songs were restarted and there was a good 10 minutes of silence as a visibly cringing Ellie Rowsell attempted to make vague banter to fill the void. It could have been terrible, but even then the London quartet had fostered a tangible sense of goodwill through a combination of affable charm and a songbook that was clearly outdoing itself by the day that rendered the show an endearingly shoddy success. With a clutch of songs that would go on to form debut ‘My Love Is Cool’ already in hand, there was obviously something about this lot that exceeded any kind of unfortunate technical hitches.

Fast forward four and a half years, a superlative, benchmark-setting first album, and a game-raising second in this year’s ‘Visions of a Life’, and we find ourselves in a very different setting altogether. Gathered in the cavernous surrounds of North London’s Alexandra Palace, their congregation now swelled to a sold-out, 10,000-strong throng, Wolf Alice are here tonight to come good on all that promise and cement their status as the leaders of this generation’s indie pack. And, even in the kind of giant venue that hosts a food truck-laden forecourt before you reach the bands, there’s still that same sense of buoyant goodwill that radiates around every corner of Ally Pally tonight.

It’s partly down to the tour’s chummy support bill – a perfect one-two of old friends that layer the vibes high from the start. Superfood finish up a summer spent resetting their own bar with the release of game-changing second LP ‘Bambino’, with a small but perfectly formed set that cribs all the best bits of it and winds up with a celebratory, moshpit-inducing run through of their namesake debut single. There’s plenty in the crowd here who’ve followed the band in tandem with their headliners, and it feels fitting that the Birmingham duo soak up a little of the joy too.

Sunflower Bean, meanwhile, toured with the Wolfies back in 2014 and return an even more full throttle force. Rattling between buzzing, glam-infused riffs and the sweeter tones of recent single ‘I Was A Fool’, their knack for switching up dynamics at the whip of a hair flick is even more fine-tuned than ever. They end with the thunderous fuzz of ‘I Was Home’, sounding effortlessly comfortable on the biggest stage they’ve played to date.