Friendly Fires And White Lies Compete

The sold-out NME Tour stop at Lee's Palace had everything you could want in a night of rock 'n' roll: an energetic crowd, British dance and indie rock, solid performances and boys with accents in tight pants.

The Soft Pack, a relatively tame group of men with a fun retro feel, kicked off the night. The San Diego band recently changed their name from The Muslims and, while their new name still sucks, at least their music is solid.

Though I dug their passion and production, I wasn't entirely sold on them until closing track "Parasites." This song is loads of fun, between the solid drumming and the hint of synths. It was a perfect way for them to go out and a great way for the night to begin.

Friendly Fires took the stage next and stole the show. If you didn't know better, you would think the at-capacity crowd was there specifically to see these guys.

They started their set with ambient nature sounds before waltzing on stage like total rock stars, which was pretentious, but entirely forgivable. The band kicked off with "Lovesick" and then led the crowd through a series of tracks off of their self-titled debut.

Singer Ed Macfarlane added maracas, cowbells and pre-recorded loops for good measure and created a frenzy as he busted through "Paris" and "Jump In The Pool." Friendly Fires were engaging and true performers, but possibly too strong an opening act.

Against such an energetic set, White Lies' seriousness came across as too contrived at first, which left me hoping they'd trade in their polish for something a little more raw. But that's about the only negative thing I could say about them. They came out in their ceremonial all-black and instantly tore into "Farewell To The Fairground" off their recently released To Lose My Life.

White Lies began generating buzz before their first gig, so I was very curious to see how the cards played out live. Though they're trying to kick their reputation of being rather gloomy, the set was quite dark. In fact, the highlight was when they played their slowest track, "From The Stars."

The song comes across even more bone-chilling live than it does on disc. The hair standing on the back of my neck during this one was proof that this west London band were more than just the new hype.

They closed with crowd-pleaser "Death" and politely thanked the enthusiastic audience for the opportunity. It's unfortunate they didn't have a longer set, but the passion and energy they packed into their eight songs and 40 minutes made up for it.

This is a solid band whose eerie music translated vividly to a live setting, and singer Harry McVeigh has a strong, captivating voice (even with a sore throat) that's perfect. This magnetic performance was a good indication that White Lies aren't going away anytime soon.