The Twilight Sad @ Cabaret Voltaire

It's been a good year for Scottish music and tonight's bill at Cabaret Voltaire offers up three reasons why. First up are Chutes who manage to pull in an early-doors crowd that would eclipse many a headlining act. It's justifiable too as they deliver a tight set that draws inevitable comparisons with Idlewild and, on one song, Bloc Party. They end with the fantastic Night Vision, which leaves an indelible mark on the mind long after they've exited the stage.

Further cementing the decision to get here nice and early are Broken Records. Opening track Nearly Home sounds like nothing less than Sigur Ros gone Celtic, whilst on The Russian Song (think Bright Eyes goes to the Balkans) singer Jamie Sutherland seems determined to get the crowd to dance. Unfortunately it's all for nothing, however the queue at the band's CD stall afterwards suggests the Edinburgh seven-piece have won over hearts, if not feet.

Expectations for Scots-done-good-Stateside, The Twilight Sad, are understandably high. They open with Cold Days From The Birdhouse, its chiming piano motif absent, letting singer James Graham vent his typically oblique lines to ethereal guitar feedback instead; this is the relative quiet before the storm that engulfs the remainder of the night. Fourteen Autumns… is given a pulverising workout, not least on She Would Darken The Memory, played tonight at an exponential speed. They are joined mid-set by Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones, bolstering the celebratory feel of all things Scottish and indie. To paraphrase the band themselves, on tonight's evidence these kids really are on fire. [Darren Carle]