Winter? What winter? On a cold, bleak Birmingham Friday evening, the O2 Institute in Digbeth is in no mood to think about the dank weather and impending gloom of a General Election as Friendly Fires roll into the Second City with their infectious brand of indie-dance.

It has been some eight years since the outfit were here in Brum, but their lengthy hiatus hasn't in any way negatively impacted their popularity. The band's recent third record - Inflorescent - may only be two months old, but it is celebrated in style tonight, with bombastic lighting, infectious energy and a unrelenting vibrancy impossible to escape from minute one.

The band may have been gone a while, but they don't show any rustiness. Lead singer Ed Macfarlane is all gyrating dance moves, 1980s-inspired movements and a pulsating, romping bullishness which makes your child's hyperactivity after a packet of Tangfastics look positively docile.

The crowd, as ever here are the O2 Institute, are brilliant - paying avid attention to every beat, snare and strum as Friendly Fires career through a breezy, colourful supernova of a 16-song strong setlist.

Macfarlane is impossible to keep your eyes off. The frontman - a last of a dying breed - doesn't so much capture your attention as demands it, like a burning campfire in the middle of a pitch black country field. He's also massively in favour of the crowd's restlessness, telling his Brummie faithful: "The vibe is brilliant tonight, thats what we love!"

With elation in the air, the 16-song setlist never threatens to be dull, with the effervescent Can't Wait Forever seeping expertly into Heaven Let Me In, before Running Away and Skeleton Boy offer a dose of the band's self-titled debut album and critically-acclaimed sophomore record Pala.

Hawaiian Air is simply breathtaking, all thumping crescendo, carnivalesque decadence and an addictive hedonism which leaves you increasingly thankful the band have decided to return with aplomb in 2019.

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There is no letting up from fifth gear for Friendly Fires tonight, with the samba-inspired Jump In The Pool greeted like an old friend you haven't seen for a couple of Christmases, and synth-heavy Run the Wild Flowers, a sensational later track which showcases soaring vocals and tight musicianship.

The back catalogue of Friendly Fires is clearly indebted to disco, samba and club dancing, and it is these themes which melt together so exquisitely to create a cacophony of glittering divertissement on a night where Birmingham is in desperate need of covering its dampness in glitter.

Friendly Fires provide an arresting, joyous experience which will leave you utterly, completely beguiled - and as the crowd-pleasing Paris gives way to a two-song encore of Lovesick and Kiss of Live - it's impossible to shake the feeling you've just experienced a band bursting into a new dimension.

Winter? What winter?

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Review: Friendly Fires at O2 Institute, Birmingham - a carnival of colour as band enter new dimension - Birmingham Live