Wire @ King Tut's, 9 Feb

Opening to a sold-out King Tut’s, San Francisco’s Weekend proffer a deceptively intricate strain of feedback-driven post-punk. Although only a three-piece, their thoughtful use of guitar effects and juxtaposition engineers songs which build into compellingly sustained crescendos of noise.

Wire’s iconic status generates an atmosphere of tense anticipation tonight, particularly given this rare chance to see them in a venue of this size. Things get off to a sluggish start, however; much of the new material, such as Smash and Please Take, sounds strangely prosaic live, and prompts a muted response. Even 2002’s Comet, a blistering track on record, lacks definition: the replacement of Bruce Gilbert’s clinical, metallic guitar style with the Sonic Youth-esque textures of his touring replacement, Matt Simms, blunting its edge.

The imperious energy of Two Minutes, however, eventually ups the tempo, and the distinctive tonal depth of Wire’s current incarnation emerges. This approach illustrates the creative restlessness that enables them to remain relevant after 35 years, another sonic variation that brings out new elements in familiar material. Closing a second encore with Pink Flag makes the point emphatically: the 1977 staple sounds reborn, melting into waves of ecstatic, ebbing feedback, but most importantly silencing our initial doubts. [Sam Wiseman]