Restless Natives: Happy Meals @ Collective, 14 May

It's Saturday night and the Calton is bouncing. The bars in and around the Gallowgate are stowed out. An Easter Rising commemorative march has finished just as the penultimate night of the Restless Natives festival is getting underway – a fine example of old and new traditions existing side by side in the East End.

In the Glasgow Collective studios, a stone's throw from the Barras, Pentecostal Party is having sequencer issues. The stage name of Newcastle-based artist Dawn Bothwell, she's forced to call short her opening set. It's a shame, as the crowd were just beginning to congregate in numbers and nod in appreciation of her deconstructed pop. 

The Modern Institute prefer a more industrial approach. The trio's sub-bass rhythms are fleshed out by a live drummer, creating a dense aural spectacle that echoes around the studio.  A theatrical element is provided by a plaster-masked wearing frontman, who mumbles a few inanities in a voice resembling a stoned Genesis P-Orridge. The ideas are definitely there; but the execution requires work.

Tonight's headliners are more polished but still comfortably the most exciting act on the bill. Happy Meals have enjoyed a rewarding 12 months – they justifiably earned a SAY award nomination for their 2015 mini-album Apéro, and their brand of minimalist synthpop is finding favour with increasing numbers. The Glasgow-based duo have since returned with another extended EP in the shape of Fruit Juice, which fills much of tonight's set.