I stood in that crowd and thought, “this is it”; a gig opportunity I’d waited around 15 years for. Maybe a smidge longer. In celebration of their debut album, Friendly Fires’ UK tour wasn’t one I could afford to miss…

Although they naturally addressed folk as though they were part of a whole new, untapped-into fanbase, it was my third time seeing Porij, the opener. Previously, that’s been in a festival tent, yet the bright lights of Leeds Beckett Students Union held up their end of the bargain and set the band off to a backdrop of pure party vibes. 

As they served ice-cold bops, new and old, the room was pumping. The fresh material went down a treat, though their pivotal single, ‘Nobody Scared’, garnered quite the intended reaction. Just imagine if they’d been around when Friendly Fires started out — it would’ve been an even more electric scene! The BBC Introducing faves never fail to make 30 minutes whizz past; I’m bound to see them on a fourth occasion…

I had an iPod nano that used to blare Friendly Fires right into my ears. They were constantly playing — especially when their self-titled debut album was released in 2009. I probably picked my GCSE subjects while listening to them. So to finally have the band there, in front of me, was mental. 

Peppered with saxophone, maraca and cowbell notes, Friendly Fires gifted us a full album play-through, right from the iconic ‘Jump in the Pool’. The crowd was in raptures from mere milliseconds in, the lights strobed kaleidoscopically and Ed’s regular hip-shaking commands were heard loud and clear. People were absolutely going for it; you could tell it was a poignant night for many. But, aside from witnessing an outfit that so sharply shaped my teen years, doing their thing, what really scattered the sprinkles on top was how much work they’d put into curating elongated versions on their tracks. Each had been tampered with and crafted into a work of aural art for maximum enjoyment — the freestyle section of ‘Photobooth’ was a particular winner in that regard. 

Before I knew it, they’d run through the set list and 2009 had been reincarnated. The lads darted off the stage, leaving instruments softly thrumming amid calmer lights, then, thankfully, an encore. This coverage cleverly included more of their general back catalogue, namely a somewhat newer ‘Silhouettes’, plus ‘Hawaiian Air’ and ‘Hurting’; both from the steel-drum-tinged sophomore record, ‘Pala’. Then, as finales go, their circling back to their debut couldn’t have been a smarter choice, for the bombastic banger, ‘Kiss of Life’, conjured up a frantic display of pure energy that they almost didn’t want to stop delivering.

Ears were left ringing in the most positive way, and a bucket-list box was ticked in serious style. Thank you.