Explosions in the Sky @ O2 Academy, 23 January

The influence of tonight's headliners on Lanterns on the Lake is readily apparent: the sextet's music oozes with prettiness, and although there's definitely a sense of nerviness onstage, it doesn't quite tarnish the suitably lush combination of shimmering guitar and string work to back up Hazel Wilde's soft, whispery vocals. The audience are notably indifferent, but the penultimate song's startling crescendo has them wide awake following band's mid-set drone; the members burst into life too, showing the same kind of energy we've all come expect from their successors to the stage.

 

Then come Explosions in the Sky, plain-clothed and in plain sight, admirably devoid of any pretentiousness. Their evident passion is in itself moving as they sway from side to side, lost in their own respective parts of a greater whole. The music itself is another story; kicking it up a notch with a crushing, deliciously dark performance of Greet Death.

 

Eyes widen as the stage glows an evil red; it's from this point onwards that the momentum only builds in true post-rock fashion. One staggeringly gorgeous run-through of The Only Moment We Were Alone later and you'd think any crowd would be emotionally drained, but applause and thankful cheer is consistent throughout even the night's quieter moments. The next time someone you know calls instrumental music out for being “boring,” remember that they probably weren't here.