In some ways the fact that Stereophonics are clearly the best of the current crop of indie rockers is a sad reflection on the guitar band scene. For although they are the purveyors of a large (and growing) number of catchy tunes, there isn't the whiff of cordite that surrounds the very best. But that would be to underestimate the fabulous craft they bring to their art, as Thursday night's gig proved.
It was quite simply the most excitingly polished display I have seen by a pop band since the early days of Suede. Rock is such a well-worn path now that the gap between bog standard and supersonic is a slim one. Stereophonic's answer is the attention to the details that most bands ignore. The drumming of Stuart Caple, for example, was astonishing: powerful and precise, with subtle choices of cymbals and toms. At the heart of everything is Kelly Jones, whose virtuosic vocal display (slightly more trans-Atlantic than on record) and dynamic guitar work drove a show dominated by the singles. Hurry Up And Wait shone, but not as much as their jewel, the best song of the year, Pick A Part That's New.
With their innate musicianship, their muscular style, their slight sense of artifice and, most of all, their slow burning singalong crowd pleasers, there was a real sense that Stereophonics could be to the next decade what U2 were to the last.