Last-minute replacements to the bill they may be, but LA’s The Human Value prove they’re bona fide rock stars all righty, Blighty. The main support to Hitchin goth outfit, My Passion, their performance is a master class in stark, near-austere theatrics.

Lead singer Turu makes her mike look like an extension of her mouth so close is her relationship with it, feisty drummer Lynnae bangs away with a deceptively light touch betraying her love of jazz percussion, and guitarist Hiram strums, effortlessly displaying his strategically-placed Fred-Perryesque tattoo to all and sundry whilst doing so.

It’s the My Passion fan club’s loss then that they choose to crowd the stage only after The Human Value leave. It’s either blind prejudice or the sight of a man closer to middle age than his teens moshing that scares them away. If the latter, I can only apologise, but one can get quite carried away during this reviewing lark.

All high cheekbones and backcombed hair, the all-male My Passion could turn a straight man gay. Dipping into their back catalogue, including their previous incarnation as Shard, they delight the partisan audience. And elicit some further entirely inappropriate dancefloor madness from yours truly.

Described by NME.com as “a new sound sweeping the suburbs”, it’s the capital’s turn to enjoy “a beautifully brilliant horror show that is just damn infectious." Darlings to The Horror’s, erm, horrors, Laurence Rene and his bevy of beautiful boys ensure an enchanting evening all round. Next stop, the Mandela Bar, Bristol University.

Whilst My Passion are Metro veterans, this is THV’s first time at the Oxford Street venue. Not that it shows. Turu, Lynnae, and Hiram appear, despite being far, far away from their Californian base, to be very much at home.
(4/5)