Gig played on 25/11/05

It ends, as all great gigs do, with chaos. The bassist picks up the keyboard player and hurls him into the crowd, only for the crowd to toss his limp, lifeless body above their heads as if he was nothing more than a stuffed dummy. But then - impossibly - the keyboard player appears on the balcony, whacking a floor tom and running from side to side, with security in bemused pursuit. The guitar player has climbed a speaker stack and looks like he's going to…yes, headfirst into the moshpit - and it's the real him this time. The bassist, meanwhile, is on a flight case, twirling it in circles as he leaps into the air. Then the keyboard player's back on the stage again, still thwacking that drum…and so it goes on, and on.

If you get the impression that British Sea Power are the kind of band who do whatever they feel like and hang the consequences it's because, so far, this approach has paid off handsomely. Unlike other indie groups of their age, BSP's popularity has absolutely nothing to do with fashion - there are no vintage army uniforms or well-thumbed punk-funk bass-lines on display tonight. Instead, singer Yan appears to be wearing yellow moccasins with white cotton jodhpurs rolled up to the knees, while musically this gig feels more suited to 1985 than 2005.

Perhaps that's why a quick scan of the audience reveals an average age range well into the thirties and beyond. Indeed, at one point it feels like the band are the youngest people in the room. But then if the influences between your difficult first album and more accessible second scan from The Fall - early single "Remember Me", played towards the start tonight, is all jagged edges and rhythmic energy - through to the likes of Julian Cope, The Icicle Works' Ian McNabb and the Psychedelic Furs, then you will get gentlemen of a certain vintage venturing out to relive their glory days. It's an off overused claim, but you really do feel that were John Peel alive today, he'd have been at this show too.

In less adventurous hands, this would all simply be a drab exercise in nostalgia. But British Sea Power - too young to be swamped by reverence, fearless and blessed with the ability to be contrary and catchy in a single breath - don't waste any time looking backwards. "How Will I Ever Find My Way Home?" ties a sweet, romantic core to a backing that surges and peaks with squalling euphoria. "Fear Of Drowning" feels bold and dramatic, the Wedding Present-esque cacophony pushed to its very limit, while "It Ended On An Oily Stage" is brilliantly knowing, its epic, wistful tone perfect for the broad scope of The Forum.

And, then, of course, comes the chaos. Rest assured, if there's still a flame to be tended and a faith to be kept when it comes to The Indie That Peel Taught Us, then you'll find its custodians here. Running amok, effortlessly magnificent.

by Ian Watson