White Heat 4th Birthday Party

With the evening's supporting acts perfroming to a sparsely populated floor, the fear briefly loomed that Mystery Jets, due to take stage at 10pm were to play to a half-full venue. The venue of choice being the sultry, cosy, and friendly-staffed Madame JoJo's in the heart of Soho. As time slowly progressed though, a temporary power cut delayed openers One More Grain's set, and the floor space became less abundant. The Soho residents trundling into and down the mirror-lined staircase of JoJo's either by pre-paid choice or simple curiosity, were ordering reasonably priced beverages in preparation for the night's entertainment. Fear dismissed.

To their credit One More Grain's front man dealt with the power cut as well as he could, with the aid of the drummer's top-tapping filling-in. The sole occupier of the dance floor now seemed isolated and unsure with himself. He just stood and waited. The power reappeared and we were soon into The Low Miff's set, the second warm up act. Their smooth trumpets and rhythmic bass lines produced an agreeable result resembling the Rumble Strips which didn't offend the ears, and the singer's blue and red pin-striped jacket wouldn't have looked out of place in Butlins. At least the ever-increasing crowd were migrating from the first floor, to the dance floor via a staircase the width of a guitar case, and furthermore heads were bopping and mouths smiling at the singer's burlesque-like antics.

The Low Miffs exited and the traditional suspense that precedes a Mystery Jets gig started to accumulate. Jetites bunched up to the stage edge. No security men present. Blaine and co. tread their way through mounds of cables into positions and Purple Prose rings around the room. Throughout the Jets deliver a joyful combination of old, new-ish and ultra-new material. The lack of security men is now allowing Jetites to crowd surf freely, the odd one plummeting towards the deck. Their fall broken only by someone's shin, or a bottle of Stella. This is a Mystery Jets gig after all so what did JoJo's expect, someone should have warned them. The carnage ensued and only intensified once the instantly recognisable chimes of Zootime commenced. Zootime's synths and strings delighted as much as ever, and once over the Jets removed themselves from the stage.

Forced to leave for the final midnight tube, chants of "encore, encore!" accompany our exit. Walking up the stairs to the doors, a glance in the stairs' mirrors reveals the Jets emerging again from behind the black curtain. Bloody power cut.