I can’t say exactly what attracted me to this gig. Not knowing a lot about either band when I bought the tickets, I suppose it was just curious. My acquaintance with HEALTH extended to a rather confronting Youtube video a friend showed me of a band building a song live with percussive bursts of pedal-controlled distorted noise and drony vocals. Wire, I discovered, were influential art-rock, post-punk artists whose work we have to thank for more recent bands like Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party (mention these two words and you immediately have my attention).

Armed with such research, I rolled up to a laid-back Beck's Festival Bar quite expectant, especially at the prospect of an original performance from the four HEALTH boys who were first up in support. Props, though, to the Popfrenzy DJ who, before the bands started, set the mood perfectly with excellent song selection).

“Hi. We’re HEALTH. We’re from Los Angeles, California.” From this point on there was no more talk. HEALTH is the sound of maniacs from a mental asylum with a metal drummer. And it’s mesmerising.

An average song might start with haunting monotone vocals and all three members slashing intermittently at their guitars or bass, stopping and starting before a sudden change sees one or more of them drop to the floor of the stage to mess with God knows what pedal or effects board. This creates a wall of otherworldly, mechanical sounds, while all close their eyes and sway backwards and forwards. Then just as suddenly they’ll be up, relentlessly pounding a floor-tom or screaming into a mic, creating vocals that sound like a crunchy guitar chord. The songs are so unconventionally structured it’s sometimes hard to tell whether a song has finished or it’s just a pause.

The emergence, about halfway through the set, of some form of melody, in the form of a high guitar riff, comes as a welcome relief but still, it only sits like a jewel in a very large crown of heavy beats and distortion.

Don’t get the wrong idea. Yes, it’s loud. Yes, it’s relentless. Yes, it’s noisy, but it’s not repetitive or boring. These guys are smart, dedicated musicians and there is plenty of variation. Whether a unique distorted sound (the bass guitar sounds like a stuttering UFO warp drive on one track), death metal beats or an electro organ riff, you are hooked on every song. HEALTH present one of the most intriguing and entertaining live performances I’ve seen in a long while.

The headline tonight though was Wire, and not having too many expectations I was interested to see how they backed up after 40 years in the business. The band released their first album Pink Flag back in 1977 and have been playing and recording on and off ever since. Tonight the trio were bolstered by a second guitarist about half their age. The set started quite casually with the band working through some of their more melodic post-punk material; the sound recalling bands like The Church and Echo and the Bunnymen but with a rude English accent. Think jittery dance beats overlaid with repetitive bass lines, rhythms and monotone vocals creating at times almost contemplative songs.

Past midway through the set and I was sensing a bit of a lull. Perhaps, the band were too as they kicked into gear, breaking out some of their earlier songs and putting on show their punk roots and the creativity with which they initially made a name for themselves. Shouty vocals, lifts and falls and sudden endings. Somewhat unfortunately, it felt that the band only really hit their stride in the two encores, the second of which felt quite genuine with fans stomping their feet on the floorboards demanding the band return. Here they were able to demonstrate the scope of their performing and song writing abilities switching between slow-burning numbers and straight up fast, loud rock’n’roll.

Overall I was left a little disappointed as, even with my limited exposure to their back catalogue, I was aware of the band’s plethora of creative and original songs which I didn’t feel they fully played up. It was a fun set nonetheless and interesting to watch 40 years worth of influential music in one hour. More intriguing nights like this please Beck's Festival Bar!!!