The Gaslight Anthem / Japandroids @ O2 Academy, 24 March

Japandroids still have a rising profile, but they're underdogs compared to tonight's stadium-fit headliners. Regardless, the Vancouver-based guitar and drums duo are determined to put on a blazing, distortion-fuelled performance – complete with a blinding light show – that's entirely their own.

The entirety of last year's appropriately titled Celebration Rock is played out of sequence along with some other choice cuts; from the nothing-can-stop-us, high-octane confidence of Fire's Highway to the youthful, sexually-charged Wet Hair, there isn't a moment where they fall short of thrilling.

It's the first of two nights The Gaslight Anthem play to a packed-out venue, so the pressure's on to deliver the goods. With a set spanning the band's Jersey punk roots to their more recent heart-on-sleeve approach to rock, it's the latter style which tends to win over the audience this evening.

They start off strong despite some initial sound-mixing issues, opening with High Lonesome and the title track from The '59 Sound, but the show's mid-section, comprising of a selection of Sink or Swim-era tracks – as well as some strange banter from frontman Brian Fallon – garners indifferent reactions from the crowd, and the band's energy suffers for it.

It's nothing a spirited run-through of 45 (taken from their latest, Handwritten) can't fix; that song alone completely shifts the atmosphere in the hall from one of mild captivation to intense appreciation, carrying them right through to the end of a generous five-song encore. By the looks of it, tomorrow can't come soon enough. [Ross Watson]