There has been a massive buzz around this Mancunian quartet (due in no small part to the critical acclaim heaped on their debut album by yours truly). But for all the BBC Sound of the Year shortlists, UK Music Video Award nominations and glowing AUreview album reviews, there’s always that nagging doubt that maybe, just maybe, Delphic wouldn’t live up to the hype in a live setting. I am thrilled to say that they did all that and more.

The night for me started with the incongruous sounds of Modular DJs, who filled the always stunning Oxford Art Factory with a less than stunning performance. The song choices they made just seemed so dreadfully out of place and, to me, diminished the occasion and the venue. Luckily I was saved by the arrival of a literal “call to arms” with Delphic’s album opener ‘Clarion Call’ charging every OAF hipster up for sixty minutes of indie dance nu-rave (honestly, I don’t know how to describe all the genre bending kids these days). 

These lads sure know how to whip a crowd into lather and, amongst the early offerings; ‘Doubt’ was the best received. At the mid-point lead singer James Cook raised the roof with ‘Red Lights’. The highlight for me though was the one-two punch of ‘This Momentary’ and ‘Counterpoint’. As the ethereal refrains of “let’s do something real” and “tell me nothing’s wrong” reverberated around the intimate venue, literal tingles shot down my spine. 

But, if this wasn’t enough the foursome, augmented (their words, not mine) by drummer Dan Hadley, returned to perform the epic 9 minute masterpiece ‘Acolyte’. I didn’t expect them to perform it. I was hoping they would perform it. And holy hell they performed the shit out of it.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see Delphic standing shoulder-to-shoulder with UK indie titans such as Bloc Party in years to come. Who knows, maybe at Splendour in the Grass 2011 we’ll see Delphic on the main stage with a dangerously large crowd threatening to riot just for the chance to dance and do something real.