Sandwiched innocuously on a row of commercial properties facing the Arndale Centre, Manchester's Ruby Lounge is, on the outside, as unassuming as tonight's clientèle - an eclectic bunch that seem to have only two things in common, a penchant for indie-pop and a love short trousers. Abundance of ankles aside however, the mood in the venue is one of subdued merriment and as support band Fear Of Men take to the stage, drinks are finished and the half capacity crowd move forward.

Having just released their debut LP back in April, Brighton's Fear Of Men seem as if they could benefit from a little more confidence in a live environment. That's not to say that their sound isn't fully developed yet, (traditional indie-pop flecked with elements of light dream-pop and shoegaze) but between songs singer Jess speaks so fast it's difficult to pick up on what she's saying, before they launch in to another track full of blissed out fuzz. Their set is well received despite a half-full room, and it's easy to see why they were picked as tonight's support, let's just hope that they find the confidence they need in order to become a truly impressive live force.

With a set comprised of mainly material from new album Days of Abandon, New York's The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart have segued somewhat from the twee-pop of their debut and its follow up in to something that feels a little more fleshed out, matured even and very much influenced by the '80s. Opening with The Cure-esque 'Until The Sun Explodes', the band don't seem to linger on any one album for too long, interspersing new tracks such as 'Kelly' with singles such as 2011s 'The Body'.

Later inclusions of tracks from their debut go down excellently, the anarchic and nostalgic 'Young Adult Friction' channelling the likes of Heavenly or Talulah Gosh whilst 'This Love Is Fucking Right' feels suitably fuzzy, providing an aural haze that matches the temperature in the venue. Before new track 'Eurydice' precedes the eponymous 'The Pains of Being Pure At Heart' to close the main set.

Taking to the stage alone to start the encore, vocalist and guitarist Kip Berman serenades the crowd with a rousing solo rendition of early B-side 'Ramona' before being joined by the rest of his touring band for final two tracks 'Everything With You' and 'Belong'.

They might have left behind the inherent roughness of their earlier days, but there's no denying that The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart still posses much of the same charm that endeared us to their debut five years ago, they've just grown up, and unfortunately, so have we. That isn't strictly a bad thing though, and if they carry on in the direction that they're heading, The Pains Of Being... could quite easily go on to become a household name.

We’re down at The Cluny extremely early this evening, as one of the North East’s finest bands is making a very rare appearance. Brilliant Mind are one of those criminally underrated bands, their perfectly crafted indie pop and lead singer Callum’s sense of humour are second to none. The band is in high spirits and so would we be, having the opportunity to support one of the greatest indie pop bands of all time, The Pastels.

Brilliant Mind have so many excellent tracks, all of which strike a chord with us but the likes of ‘Our Osprey’ and ‘Leave Your Friends’ really stand out this evening. Their fantastic lyrics and Callum Lynn’s excellent delivery really helping. Brilliant Mind are also a band who wear their influences firmly on their sleeves, as the last song of tonight’s set suggests ‘Blyth’, the jewel of the Northumberland coast where the band hail from, has a clear influence on their music.

Having left the stage and returned to their reclusive state, all eyes are fixed forward as the lights go down. The Pastels take to the stage with Stephen McRobbie immediately apologising for the ‘technical robots’ failing them this evening and thus the late start to their set. Wasting no time though they open with the awesome ‘Slow Summits,’ such a beautiful way to start; the title track of the bands latest LP, this evening’s set is biased towards newer material.

However, this is not an issue for us, whilst the band have three decades of awesome work behind them, they’re a band who aren’t afraid to evolve and grow. Tonight demonstrates this as they play tracks like the beautiful ‘Summer Rain’ and ‘Come To The Dance,’ both of which embody that beautiful indie pop structure with sweet harmonies accompanied by beautifully twee lyrics.

‘Fragile Gang’ is met with a huge crowd reaction, as is ‘Baby Honey’ which the band close with this evening. It is clear to see that those in attendance have been with the band for a number of years as they sing back every word, the older songs tugging on the heartstrings of so many here tonight.

In between songs The Pastels take time to regale us with the one and only time they visited Blyth, it was for a festival in a leisure centre with Primal Scream, and apparently, according to McRobbie, the concert itself was something of a blur.

This evening was a truly special one, both bands have been on top form despite the technical gremlins attempting to spoil things at the beginning of The Pastels set. A rare opportunity to see one of the pillars of the indie pop scene, but also to seea band who aren’t afraid to move with the times and evolve, as opposed to remaining in the same rut.  

We shuffle up the stairs at Think Tank, popping our heads around the corner to discover this evenings support act William Arcane. The sound of William’s ethereal pop music fills our ears, whilst we're shocked by the lack of musicians adorning the stage. With a lone tall figure hunched over a plethora of electronic gadgetry, the density of the sound is insanely impressive.

Whilst the sound may be dense, there is a beautiful light touch to it, not too over powering. There often has to be a very strict balance in these situations in our view, as it can quite easily become too much.

Undoubtedly William Arcane provides the perfect support as Glass Animals take to the stage. Opening with the amazing ‘Psylla,’ which is somewhat reminiscent of Wild Beasts current output. The sparse instrumentation, recursive drum pattern and the hazy vocals especially. Front man Dave Bayley takes the Thom Yorke approach to his delivery; his arms flail one moment as he hugs the mic stand the next.

Glass Animals are currently on tour to support their debut album Zaba, a record harbouring numerous flashes of brilliance, most of which are on display this evening. Glass Animals fit somewhere between the aforementioned Wild Beasts and Radiohead and on paper this sounds like an excellent combination, but in practice this amalgamation seems to polarise the set.

That said the likes of ‘Black Mambo’ and ‘Pools’ really stand out, ‘Pools’ is a truly excellent track. A lot denser than some of Glass Animals other tracks, the heavily echoed vocals ring throughout the venue. The track has an almost carnival feel in parts, and is perhaps one of the highlights of this evening's set.

The band round off their set with the absolutely brilliant ‘Gooey’, again this track has a distinct Wild Beasts feel to it and a beautiful undercurrent that almost sounds like someone’s squelching through the track, adding intrigue. Again the vocals echo throughout the venue providing the perfect end to this evening's set.

There was a distinct element of light and shade tonight, Glass Animals' singles truly standing head and shoulders above the rest of the set; the lesser known tracks seem to almost pale into obscurity and whether this will change over time is yet to be seen.

To us, the band are at an important crossroads, they could sail off into the sea of mediocrity like so many others in this genre. Or they could become one of the mainstays of British indie in much the same way as Wild Beasts and Radiohead. That said, based on the strength of this evening's performance we’re certainly hoping for the latter, as when Glass Animals are good they’re exceptional. 

Much like the city’s subway Parquet Courts have circled back to Glasgow to kick off their European tour for new album Sunbathing Animals, having played the last date of their previous tour there on Hallowe’en 2013.

Playing for an hour straight, with no encore, the newer songs are predictably a little less well known by the crowd, which spends the first half of the show largely static but by the time we’re graced by fiery renditions of the likes of ‘Light Up Gold’ there’s a serious amount of pogoing and general pit mayhem at the front of the stage. Oddly, despite having paid good money to get in and probably shelling out the eye watering £4.50 for a pint, one crowd member feels the need to heckle bassist Sean Yeaton at one point by telling him to shut up in no uncertain terms. By the end of that encounter though it’s band & 99% of fans 1, dickhead nil.

Parquet Courts suffer a bit from less than clear final vocals for the bulk of their set but musically there are no flaws in 60 minutes packed with the maximum amount of songs and the bare minimum of chat, other than that mention of the circular nature of their kicking things off here, a mention of the summer solstice and a possible dig at the timing of the show by way of mentioning that it’ll still be daylight at the end of it, something that anyone travelling from outside Glasgow by public transport could be quite happy for, given the venue’s distance from the city centre. They were great tonight and no doubt will only improve on that as the tour progresses.

Tonight’s only support act were newcomers Ultimate Painting, playing their first ever show. Not that you’d have known without being told as they’re a tight unit that has clearly spent a lot of time playing together and working on their songs, one of which may have been called ‘Freak Beard’ (that muddy vocal issue struck them too). With a sound taking in elements of The Velvet Underground, The Byrds and Ride theirs was a good performance, let down only by the fact that some of their songs are a tad on the plodding side. Their livelier numbers are though cracking songs and exhibit enough variety that by rights should see them go from strength to strength through the coming months and bring them to the stage as headliners in the not too distant future, should their schedules for Veronica Falls & Mazes allow.