First of all, we got really excellent free parking on Nemo St, a few doors down from the Troubadour. We pulled in right as some other guy who was parked in the red ran out to his car. I think he intended to pull forward into our spot, because he just sat there looking bummed while we parallel-parked.

Still Life Still were clearing the stage to make way for the headliners as we walked in, so we ambled upstairs to the VIP lounge for a drink. After we’d had our fill of complimentary champagne and beluga caviar—which you would know is a standard perk had YOU ever been in the VIP lounge—we went back down amongst the hoi polloi and waited for the lights to dim.

The (damn-near) capacity crowd cheered every tour manager, PR flack and odd-job guy that descended the dressing room staircase in their eagerness for Wild Beasts to emerge, and they eventually did, blinking and stumbling around the stage like newborn deer.

I noticed then that everyone in the venue had their pants tucked in to their shoes …

… except lead guitarist Ben Little, who only had on socks. Wild Beasts kicked off the first date of their North American tour, as well as their first-ever Los Angeles show, with a brilliant version of “The Fun Powder Plot”, followed by latest single “We Still Got The Taste Dancing On Our Tongues”, never straying too far from the recorded versions. “All The King’s Men” elicited the most hooting and howling (geddit, Beast-watchers?) of the night… and, hands up, it is a really good song.

Chris Talbot’s clicky-clacky drumming provided the backbone to each number’s wild and beastly groove, fomenting a sea of nodding heads, pumping fists and a smattering of undulating hippie hands! Frontmen Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming traded instruments and vocal duties on a song-by-song basis, shared a bit of shy audience banter, and seemed genuinely touched by L.A.’s warm reception.

If there were any slow points in the set, they’d be the one or two… let’s say “atmospheric” … waltzes, but when you have that captive an audience, a bit of self-indulgence is allowed. Personal highlights would have to be “Two Dancers”, where the lyric “dancing cock” always makes us chuckle, and encore “The Devil’s Crayon”, the big single off their debut album. I think it’s safe to say they’re our fauve new band! (Another pun. Google it. Damn, we’re clever.)

—Pop Noir (art and words)