Run The Jewels @ Albert Hall, Manchester, 31 Mar

It’s an audacious move, walking on stage to Queen’s We Are The Champions, but once Run The Jewels get started, that triumphalism seems justified. From openers Legend Has It and Call Ticketron, the crowd morphs into a gigantic undulating mass of arms and heads, and this staggering level of mutual appreciation between the artist and audience quickly becomes the defining factor of the evening.

But rather than a succession of radio-friendly vocal refrains, the strength of Run The Jewels’ repertoire is in the intoxicating combination of big beats – although skittering and sparse, they drop like a ten-ton truck, always in the right places – and the charisma and commanding presence of two MCs who put the work in and hold the crowd as well as anyone. Though for the most part they eschew mass sing-alongs and call-and-response crowd work, an exception is made for Love Again, with what El-P describes as “a worst nightmare of a chorus”, a chorus which lesser bands might not get away with.

Although the gravity of their subject matter and the nuance with which it's handled may be lost in the bombast of their live show, a big part of Run The Jewels' impact is that the band themselves have become a signifier for contemporary consciousness, with Killer Mike in particular now being an increasingly influential public voice. After El-P’s heartfelt thanks, underlining the value of connection through music in a troubled and divided world, they close with an explosive outing of Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck), the intensity amplified by pulsating strobe lights.

Run The Jewels leave the stage arm in arm, met with their fist-and-gun hand gesture replicated thousands of times over. Hip-hop’s most productive and vital partnership isn’t slowing down.