The Belligerents are at home in the Valley, at one with their surroundings. Wearing simple white tees, Lewis, James, Konstantin, Andy and White Stag looked so natural on stage I expected to see a recliner couch cushioned in the corner. From the first note of ‘Imagination’, the pace was electric. The crowd took the music and danced with it, heating a windy winter night. The Belligerents fall in line as indie dance, but it feels more like arrival music. Like when nearing a place where fun is expected and anticipated, say a mushroom pick or first day of Splendour — songs that builds a mood.

The Belligerents were a unified group that responded to each other and the crowd. Lewis’ vocals moved with and above the instrumental play of this five-piece during ‘She Calls The Shots’. They incited the crowd to react and the young dancefloor accepted — Coniston Lane blew for ‘Infatuation’.

The Belligerents act was finely tuned, showing the progression their three years together has made. So wild and flagrant were The Belligerents, sweaty, danced-out faces smiled all around. “Encore” was chanted and the boys returned; there was no deterring the musical motion of this band. A big hug ended the show.