The XX have been much hyped over the past 12-18 months by all the music press and tonight Academy 2 is ram packed with only a few spaces left before the exit door at the rear of this large room. The other reason is their beautifully crafted CD having done well in the charts thanks to songs like “Crystalised”,”VCR” and “Heart Skipped a Beat”.

This year's widely anticipated V Festival came aggressively straight for us. With her guns blazing, she blew away anyone who was lucky enough to get in to the 60,000 capacity arena. The success of the weekend truly rested on one act and their extraordinary ability to put on the most intense and simply awesome performance you may of ever witnessed.

The first thing that occurred to me when I arrived halfway through XX Teens' set was that I'd walked into a reverse game of musical statues - the music was playing but everyone was very still, including the band. XX Teens played a set of mildly diverting avant-rock and, although the crowd watched politely and bestowed smatterings of applause between songs, there was no real engagement between band and audience. Perhaps this was no reflection on XX Teens - even the reaction to The Long Blondes was muted, with applause between songs giving way to a slightly awkward silence on a couple of occasions. I don't know if everyone had had a hard day at work or what, but it felt like most people were there to watch and be entertained rather than get into it. The lighting deserves a mention too - static, bright, white lights do no-one any favours. However, if you're battling poor lighting and a mostly apathetic crowd (the first row excepted) then you want Kate Jackson on your side. The Long Blondes' front woman is a charismatic talisman whose ease on stage is a joy to watch, commanding the changes in style from shouty sing-along to half-pace jam in her stride. About those changes in style - The Long Blondes seem to be transitioning from spikily produced kitchen-sink dramas to purveyors of slinky disco grooves. Occasionally they manage to find a middle ground between the two but at other times the contrast between the old and the new jars, for example when the rousing Separated By Motorways (an old set-closer) is followed by the gorgeous The Couples. I must admit to being disappointed by the new material but after this show I'm tempted to revise that opinion - the sass is still there, it's just wearing different clothes. The set opened with newbie I Liked The Boys and early single Autonomy Boy, but it was Once And Never Again that first threatened to spark some life into those watching. From then on the new album was given centre-stage with the aforementioned ...Motorways sneaking in along with You Could Have Both and Too Clever By Half before the band finished ...