Fight Like Apes live at Tripod November 27

It's as cold as ice outside, but the hordes of FLAPE fans that have gathered in Tripod are apparently willing to sacrifice their extremities to frostbite just to catch this show - the venue is jampacked. And who better than the Irish electropop band of the minute to get us all warmed up? By the end, proceedings have reached fever pitch. MayKay, Pockets and co may have toned down the onstage madness (relatively speaking) but they've upped their ante musically - a good slice of tonight is given over to material from the band's second album, which builds brilliantly upon their frenetic debut.

The newer offerings such as 'Jenny Kelly' and 'Katmandu' already sound like old favourites, their pop immediacy prompting mass singalongs. Album opener 'Come On, Let's Talk About Our Feelings', a spiky synth song that just builds and builds, is a particular high point. However, it goes without saying that 'the hits' which bookend the show get the biggest roars. The early deployment of 'You Are The Hat', 'Do You Karate?' and 'Tie Me Up With Jackets' get the crowd onside early, whilst an encore of 'Knucklehead' and 'Battlestations' leaves them wanting more.

MayKay is, as ever, an electric presence on stage - a combination of charm and 'don't feck with me' attitude. Her voice is in fine fettle and she does a mean job of dealing with the crowd. Perhaps a little too mean at times - she easily deals with a shout of 'take yer top off!' by offering to put the hapless heckler through college so he can come up with better lines, and occasionally jeers the distracted masses at the Tripod bar in an effort to get their attention. It exemplifies the Fight Like Apes way - carefree, in-your-face and frequently thrilling, but maybe not everybody's cup of tea.

Tonight though, MayKay has the audience in the palm of her hand -everyone's enjoying the fun and japes with Fight Like Apes. Three girls standing near Hot Press, in particular, have become slightly crazed as a result (the one, two or ten they’ve been drinking may have played their part). They shriek and shout excitedly throughout, they dance around, they fall about. Brash and irritating they may seem to some, but they couldn't give a fuck – they’re simply lost in the joy and energy of the great music. Now who does that remind us of?

Craig Fitzpatrick