It’s a bold and fairly baller move having polymath rapper Tony Bontana as your opening act, and despite the hesitance and occasional sideways looks from the crowd he brings an undeniable energy to those flagging after a day spent in the springtime sun. He closes his set with a straight-up hardcore song that transitions into what sounds like a chopped and screwed version of Eiffel 65’s ‘Blue’ – that pretty much sums up his chameleonic tendencies. He’s fundamentally a rapper, but takes a kaleidoscopic approach taking in drill, boom bap and grime, but also dense, experimental sounds recalling dälek and some hardcore/emo to boot. It’s unsurprising that he’s collaborated with similarly omnivorous sensation Nourished By Time. The crowd may be a little nonplussed but Bontana rattles through a set that perfectly exemplifies the versatility he’s becoming known for.

Every Dry Cleaning show is a battle of wits for the mixing desk. Florence Shaw’s hushed, deadpan delivery needs space and framing to bring out its caustic hilarity, while the rest of the band are on a mission to blast your eardrums with spiky riffs and funky basslines. A nice balance is struck tonight, but it feels near impossible to replicate the delicate tight rope that the studio efforts achieve. They open with new single ‘Sliced by a Fingernail’ that jolts and unsettles with its cracked drums and grotesque imagery. It’s the hallmark of the band, but when Shaw’s shaggy-dog tales get swamped the band end up sounding a little pedestrian.

All of the new album Secret Love is played tonight and while the more immediate songs like ‘Cruise Ship Designer’ and ‘Hit My Head All Day’ neatly fit the lineage of weirdo bangers that are strangely danceable, there’s a lull of also-ran energy when it comes to ‘Don’t Press Me’ and ‘I Need You’. But the band mostly seem to recognise this and pepper the set with older songs that hit all the right spots: ‘Gary Ashby’ and its touching tortoise tribute, a truly psychedelic breakdown on ‘Conversation’ and the evergreen ‘Scratchcard Lanyard’ that sounds as brilliant as ever even in its mid-set placing.

Some of the best songs on the new album are a bit more subdued (maybe the influence of Cate Le Bon behind the boards), but cuts like ‘Let Me Grow And You’ll See The Fruit’ and the title track fail to achieve their on-record impact as even when the mix is a little quieter, it just means the crowd noise becomes more audible. There’s no winning here. Even old favourite ‘Magic of Meghan’ doesn’t seem to move the people, though the cultural tide may have turned there since 2019.

Guitarist Tom Dowse is the manic cheerleader to Shaw’s laconic nonchalance, introducing the band like Danny Dyer holding court in your local after ‘The Cute Things’ and setting high expectations for Lewis Maynard’s chest-quaking bass skills. The band seem to be having a blast and have an endearing, infectious energy that runs all the way to the closer ‘Hit My Head All Day’ that scrambles your thoughts but moves your body.

The strength and especially the depth of Dry Cleaning’s growing back catalogue means that even in excess of an hour and a half, with a bit of filler, they can deliver a wonderfully original and lively set that only ever sounds like them.