Sigur Ros

Not your typical band. Icelandic for a start. I had seen them once before (last century  supporting Radiohead, and I guess Radiohead or Arcade Fire may be their closest comparators, but not that close. Like Arcade Fire they play a vast number of instruments - this gig had both a string and brass section, and at some points there was a drum kit going off at both wings of the stage. The lead singer has a high-pitched keening voice, and plays his electric guitar with a bow. The pieces don't have a standard verse-chorus arrangement. Its really quite weird, very art-house as is the lighting (indeed they started playing behind a diaphanous sheet rather like a monster-sized mosquito net).

But if any of this would put you off (and it possibly would put me off) it shouldn't. They were magnificent.

One of the great things of having young friends is that they can introduce you to things that you wouldn't normally go to. So as with Frightened Rabbit, this was young Tom's taste  And whereas on my previous hearing of Sigur Ros, way down the bill at an all day event in South Parks in Oxford, I had dismissed them as whale music, this time I really appreciated their weirdness, which wasn't too weird. Their experimental sound was highly enjoyable as well as unusual. Although you may not have heard of them, they have produced many albums and have a strong following. They filled Brixton Academy, which is no mean feat with many of the attendees looking worryingly like they were having a religious experience. I didn't go that far, even on a couple of pints of hard-earned cider (the bar was packed), but definitely a top night out.