There is always the fear that when you see a band you love multiple times in a year that they may become a little stale; especially with only two albums. This was not the case with The Grates.

A The Grates show is never just a band on stage, they always take the time to give us some scenery, sometimes a scary owl with glowing red eyes and a snow machine, and sometimes just sparkly light-up stars hung around the room. This time, the stage was adorned with totem poles, cardboard cacti and an impressively large wagon wheel. “Welcome to the Wild West” was Front-woman Patience Hodgson’s opening statement, before they quickly got down to business. But why western? Was it because they were in the West? Or perhaps because Patience found a gorgeous coy-boy outfit she wanted to wear? Or maybe it was just so they had somewhere to hide the keyboard player. We’ll never know.

With the release of Teeth Lost Hearts Won, The Grates’ shows seem to have slowed in pace a little, offering a slightly more reflective tone. This gig however, was a special treat for fans of their older, more punky numbers; with extreme energy songs like Message, Seek Me and Trampoline coming out in quick succession, barely giving us time to breathe before plunging into the next song.

You can tell a The Grates fan the next day by their bruised palms, cracking knees and shit-eating grins. Hodgson has the ability to make even the grumpiest person giggle and jump around. She has mastered what may be the most important aspect of a live show: stage presence, (and her mood is completely infectious.) She has an unnatural ability to sing in tune whilst jumping repeatedly a metre in the air, and slip from song to song before her feet have even hit the ground.

The crowd at Capitol on Tuesday night was insane; lapping up every song offered and returning it with as much intensity as the band themselves. Hodgson was so excited by a crowd that knew and sang every single word, (also every hand clap and every interpretive dance move). It’s so much fun to go to a gig where the lead singer acknowledges and appreciates every person who raises a hand in the air, or proudly sings their favourite line of a song.

Not to have all the fun herself, Hodgson decided to let a few audience members join the band on stage. This kind of behaviour is always fraught with danger; it seems to be an open invitation for every drunk girl in the room to get up there. After about nine extra people squeezed on to the cacti-laden stage, one last girl had to be physically prevented from getting up; but as a consolation prize, the disappointed fan was allowed to scream into the microphone as loud as she could – and this seemed to placate her.

But they are not alone on this tour, oh no, as an extra special bonus, The Grates came with Children Collide in tow. For anyone who may think they don’t know who Children Collide are; think again. They are currently storming the radio with one great anthemic song after another, and their live show was an absolute delight. They flawlessly presented great tunes like Across the Earth, Cannibal and Farewell Rocketship, music that is just begging to be made into car ads – and that’s not a bad thing, car ads these days take the very best of songs, (but please, stop ruining all our favourite songs by turning them into ads!)

The Trio is so animated on stage – so much so that the set seemed to be cut short when during a particularly excited manoeuvre, guitarist/vocalist Johnny Mackay’s lead caught on the bassist Heath Crawley’s throat (or possibly his guitar). Or perhaps this was a planned, clever play on the band name.

The music was full of creative drum fills, and fantastic interplay between guitar and bass melodies. This made for truly interesting listening, which is so nice to hear amongst all the standard rock tripe that’s being churned out at the moment.

It’s entirely possible that the crowd comprised as many Children Collide fans as The Grates fans; there was definitely a decided shift of predominate crowd gender between acts, so maybe this was the perfect tour partnership for couples, everyone certainly seemed happy! This great partnership accumulated at the end of The Grates’ set, when Mackay joined Hodgson on stage for the encore with a gorgeous duet before the crowd dispersed to make the pilgrimage to Fast Eddy’s for spearmint thick shakes, to round off a spectacular evening.