Hidden, the second album from These New Puritans certainly seems to be a contender for album of 2010 already, so it was interesting to see if they could represent a record that's currently riding a wave of acclaim and not yet afflicted with the tide of hype or backlash (..they may come..)

Then again, how easy would it be to represent the blend of avant-classical inspirations like Britten and Glass with the band's post-punk elements? Well, quite easy as it would turn out; TNP seamlessly fusing samples of the kids' choir etc with the live incarnation.

Sadly the support band didn't turn up, the dj's played some pleasant and uber hip music for the eclectic crowd with that whiff of hipness that's always disarming - what was it Kurt Cobain said, "Here we are now - entertain us"? Fortunately TNP didn't go out of their way to do that..

A Middle Eastern sounding sample that could have been on a Jah Wobble record was the first that was heard prior to the epic 'We Want War' opening with an intense twin-drum attack and pretty much the greatest opening song to a gig I've experienced since the last time I saw The Melvins.

I can't say that I was hugely bowled over by debut Beat Pyramid, which was probably more of a sign of what was to come and didn't match the hyperbole that accompanied the band at the time (..why does every band have to be perceived as making a great debut? It didn't help The Strokes..The only way is down). I might have preferred a set focusing on Hidden followed by an encore with material from the debut.

TNP chose to play several older tracks, whether a concession to the audience or to make things more interesting I don't know - some of these songs jarred, Jack Barnett's vocals slightly more annoying on the older songs. My co-gigger even mentioned James from EMF - which may be too far!!

To be fair the tracks from the debut were more concise and upped the pulse between the more experimental material from album number two - there was a sense of audience expectation and bad vibes as TNP veered off into drum-clatter and 7 minute songs centred on a watery concept. So 'Numbers', 'Colours', 'Swords of Truth' and 'Elvis' were probably quite a good counterpoint to the more restrained material like 'Hologram' and 'White Chords.' 'Costume' seemed to be their Bunnymen/Interpol-style moment and might very well have been the ideal set closer..

The set needed to start with a bang and maybe it went out on a bit of a whimper, with TNP having delivered 'Attack Music' and 'Fire Power' earlier, which may have been the ideal way to go out? The set felt like they needed to work on the running order a bit and was slightly long - still TNP could deliver a killer festival set based on their latest and a few oldies. Hope to catch again in 2010..