★★★

THE Duke Spirit have received quite a lot of airplay on 6 music recently. This might explain why Patterns was packed for a Monday.

But though the crowd was big, it was lifeless – odd for a rock gig.

At one point singer Liela Moss (who did a DJ stint with 6 music) commented that she felt “weird” about the lack of movement in the audience but that really didn’t help create an atmosphere.

Surely that’s up to the band.

Musically they were tight but the lack of electricity in the room contradicted what the band were trying to do.

Consequently, it was like listening to a movie soundtrack rather than being caught up in a live performance.

Style seemed to win over emotion and rarely did The Duke Spirit reach the kind of psychedelic urgency that you can hear in their recent single Hands (which bizarrely they didn’t play).

The band cite influences like The Jesus and Mary Chain, Spiritualized and Patti Smith – bands whose trademarks are emotional tension – and perhaps this was just an off night. It was more fashion than passion to me, though.