Openers Bloody Knees play catchy skatepark rock, the drummer clicks them in and they dish out the noise of Never Change, nonchalant manes flying.

With stubbornly trudging guitars and loud, stroppy choruses, they appear to have stepped out of the 1990s from somewhere between the grunge and indie scenes, nabbing a few items of clothing to bring with them for the journey.

Playing dirty summer anthems, they pause only for matters of grave importance. “He just wants a bit of his beer,” the lead singer explains, as they pause to watch the bassist glug.

“He’s tired. It’s okay, you can go home soon, mate.”

On Stitches, they shout: “I’m covered in blood, but I’m having fun,” a lyric inspired by their last tour with tonight’s headliners.

Second support act The Magic Gang’s music is about as cute as their name suggests. Guitars strapped so high they risk strangling themselves, they play catchy, introverted love songs while sounding like a 21st century Beach Boys with louder guitars.

“I’m so shallow!” they all cry on Shallow, a song with a powerful quiet-loud dynamic and a strong sense of crippling self-awareness.

Named after an Angela Carter story about a girl raised by wolves and originally consisting of singer Ellie Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie, it’s been a while since Wolf Alice decided to drop acoustic guitars and open mics, seek out a rhythm section and go electric.

In the playful video for Fluffy, the founding members play themselves as small-town YouTubing hopefuls, recording an ode to their cat before being rescued from boredom by bad kids played by bassist Theo Ellis and drummer Joel Amey. This is the song they open with tonight, sending the crowd so wild photographers are struggling to focus lenses in the shaking pit.

Using a harmonica microphone – a la The Breeders – to scream ghostly vocals into, Ellie Rowsell switches between tuneful narration and angry yelps with ease. Their entire sound strikes a balance between gentle and harsh; their ecstatic stage energy doubled by a sold-out crowd that jumps, grooves and climbs.

Themes of being an outsider and struggling to find identity in the pressures of society recur in the lyrics, a narrative that continues into videos. In Moaning Lisa Smile Rowsell’s bandmates appear in sequins and heels to rescue her from school bullies, while in She the band appear as the peers of the video’s questioning protagonist, who is struggling with gender identity.

Tonight Blush deals with the same themes in a quiet moment that has the crowd swaying and hugging. Then the intro of Bros begins and mayhem restarts with a new energy; girls starting a circle pit as the anthem of companionship rings out.

Celina Macdonald