House, pop, R&B, electronic, drum & bass … and classical. Clean Bandit's chart-topping rise has covered them all. Having supported Disclosure at Rescue Rooms last March playing to a small crowd, a year later the Cambridge-graduates are welcomed by deafening cheers upon their sold-out Rock City show.
Live, they are six-members-strong, with no lead singer. Instead, along with Jack (bass guitar and keyboards), Luke (drums), Grace (chello) and Milan (violin), they are joined by guest vocalists. Elisabeth Troy, who despite a major name-check failure, "what's up Norwich?", shines in an energetic rendition of Heart on Fire and a livelier reggae-influenced Mozart's House (which includes part of Mozart's String Quartet No. 21, although that's not common knowledge among the teenage crowd.)
Real Love is the first of two new songs, and their second gold-dust collaboration with pop-star-in-waiting Jess Glynne. It's bound to be as big as Rather Be (which comes during the encore), upon its November release.
Cute and petite Grace Chatto later introduces house-led, simplistic, sing-a-long Stronger, winning over the crowd, before later lending her uniquely soft voice to the electronic beat of album-favourite Dust Clears.
Summer-influenced tropical album hits, Come Over, and Rhianna, flow into Up Again's building drum & bass beat, transforming Rock City into a momentary rave haven. Extraordinary echo's emphatically, before 2012's Nightingale and its Gorgon City deep-house edit take hold.
Returning for a lung-emptying, euphoric two-song encore, a modern take on Robin S' house classic Show Me Love keeps everyone dancing before Rather Be, the feel-good festival song of the summer.
Years and Years, who play the Bodega in February, and feature on countless ones-to-watch lists, support, impressing with tropical synth-led pop-house throughout new single Desire, piano-led Eyes Shut and Real, which charismatic frontman Olly Alexander reveals is, "a song about when I got dumped."
