Tellison @ The iBar

Basement gigs don’t come much more intimate than this; descend into the depths and you emerge into a small neat box of a room, bar to the back and the front a stage, barely raised from ground level, on which a rather trippy screen background hangs, whirling with multi-coloured patterns and visual delights.

The pure tension and anticipation in the crowd has been turned up to eleven when Tellison stroll on stage. They seem a geeky misfit of a band, with a nervous and hesitated raise of the hand lead singer Stephen Davidson welcomes everyone, ‘Hello’ before diving head first into energetic opener ‘Hanover Start Clapping’. They swing straight into ‘Henry Went to Paris’, another upbeat rocker that rouses the front of the audience into the first sing-along of the evening. Audience and band, both in a good spirits, share banter together between songs.

Single ‘Gallery’ is another crowd clapping favourite, but it proves to be later in the set that Tellison get a chance to show just why they’re the name on everyone’s lips, when they slow it all down for ‘Architects’. It strips back their percussion led, electro pop rock to a simple, slow heartfelt ballad that crescendos into a whirring emotional climax.

‘New York, New York’ follows and with all its pop rock charm is the most well received of the evening. Leaving with an old classic to close the show, Reader’s punk-rock guitar riff keeps everybody in the place moving and makes sure Tellison leave the iBar craving more.