If you can’t bring yourself to Splendour, you might as well bring Splendour to you. And so, over the last week, Melbourne has had an influx of top tier international acts grace this fair city. Scissor Sisters, Florence and the Machine, Laura Marling, Kate Nash and Passion Pit have wowed Melbourne audiences, effectively rubbing in our faces exactly what we’ve missed. Well, if you can’t beat ‘em, might as well join ‘em!

So on Sunday night I was treated to my second Splendour sideshow to see UK indie-dance act Delphic in the somewhat more intimate confines of The Corner Hotel. In fact, to call them an indie-dance group hardly does them justice. Perhaps a more accurate description would be if Bloc Party and UNKLE had a love child and occasionally looked after by The Presets. Delphic – or as I like to call them, ‘the band that requires a dictionary’ (with brain-teasing song titles such as _Clarion Call, Acolyte, and Halcyon_), graced Australia’s shores several month’s ago to perform at The Prince of Wales. This time they were back for Splendour, with a few more concerts under their belts and devoted fans to welcome them.

The Corner was pleasantly packed, with just enough room to give my dancing shoes a workout. Having learned my lesson at previous Corner gigs, I placed myself right up front about 15 minutes before showtime; knowing that once the party starts, you’d have to be an anorexic salamander to squeeze youre way through to the stage. The concert started off just as the album does, with Clarion Call. The pace was set from the get-go, with the guitars, synths and drums all calling out to the crowd to get down. And that they did. From there followed Doubt,, Red Light, Submission (a rip-snorter of a track), and crowd-favourite Halcyon. The main set followed quickly with an encore of two songs, starting with Remain. It ended with lead singer hinting to the crowd, ‘this is our last song. It’s a dance song and it’s 9 minutes long. And it might be Acolyte.’ Indeed it was! And for those 9 euphoric minutes, we were all part of the best Sunday night dance party in Melbourne.

Delphic’s self-titled debut album is an absolute pleasure to listen to. At once melodic, intelligent and pumping, it can be enjoyed as easily at a dinner party as at a dance club. But heard live, Delphic’s singular intent is unmistakable: Everyone. Must. Dance. It is a true nightclub experience: one song blends into the next as smoothly as any DJ mix. However, the driving force of the live instrumentals is incomparable to any turntable-mixer combination. The rawness and pure sense of being there makes the experience that much better.