As we waited for The Jesus and Mary Chain to appear on stage, a huge cloud of dry ice floated towards us. The excitement was palpable. The band – who have a new album out (‘Glasgow Eyes’) along with a memoir from founding members and song writing partnership, brothers Jim and William Reid – originally came out of East Kilbride and were leading figures in the development of shoegaze and noise-pop in general. Their debut album ‘Psychocandy’, released in 1985, was a heady fusion of 60s pop melodies (think: The Beach Boys, The Shangri-Las and Phil Spector) which they lathered in feedback. Their early shows won them a reputation for disorder and mayhem and their single ‘Reverence’ was banned by the BBC (“I wanna die just like JFK, I wanna die in the USA” … “I wanna die just like Jesus Christ, I wanna die on a bed of spikes”).

Tonight, out of the darkness, the band appeared on stage bathed in blue shards of light, which added a dreamlike element to the show. They opened with 'Jamcod' from their new album and followed it with their biggest hit, the fantastic ‘April Skies’ – Jim’s emotionally detached vocals combining with distorted guitar. Joining the brothers were Mark Crozer on bass, Scott Von Ryper on guitar and Justin Welch on drums. The band – never known for jumping around on stage or engaging in unnecessary chat – kept interaction to a minimum. Personal highlights were ‘Some Candy Talking’ and ‘Cracking Up’ – catchy distorted guitars and driving rhythms very much to the fore.

Michelle Hindriks from Ciel joined them to sing guest vocals on ‘Sometimes Always’, originally performed by Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval, who was William's partner at the time. It remains a beautifully mournful song: “I gave you all I had. I gave you good and bad. I gave, but you just threw it back.” There was beauty in the darkness and the passionate crowd, arms aloft, cheered in rapturous appreciation.

For the encore they launched into ‘Just Like Home’, a track that borrows Hal Blaine’s drum intro from The Ronettes’ 1963 classic ‘Be My Baby. This saw Michelle Hindriks return to deliver a mesmerizing vocal performance. They finished the night with a visceral ‘Reverence’ before Jim acknowledged the adoring crowd: "Goodbye. Hope you enjoyed it." They then made their way off, silhouetted against the backdrop like the final scenes in Close Encounters. That was quite something.

Deb Snell