Savages, The Roundhouse, London, review: Urgent, impatient performance takes the breath away

The band's thunderous, bass-heavy music brings material from 2016’s Adore Life to… well, life

Savages frontwoman Jehnny Beth channels Patti Smith's commanding presence (Rex Features)

Savages may be dressed in uniform black but they’re not taking orders from anyone.

Urgent and impatient, their thunderous, bass-heavy music brings material from 2016’s Adore Life to… well, life.

Gemma Thompson draws out Sonic Youth-esque scratches and squeals (without the screwdrivers) on her guitar, while Jehnny Beth channels Patti Smith’s commanding presence.

As a frontwoman Beth is theatrical, but not as flamboyant as, say, Muse’s Matt Bellamy; she prowls across the stage, staring out audience members and giving unapologetic introductions to songs about lust, love, dreams and pornography: "Sad Person" declares "Love is a disease/The strongest addiction I know/What happens in the brain/ Is the same as the rush of cocaine".

For their fierce image, they’re surprisingly gentle with fans; Beth reaches her hand out to the clamouring crowds at the front and clambers out over their shoulders, assuring them that it’s OK to mosh on a Thursday night, because why not?

Closing on "Fuckers", their phenomenal support act Bo Ningen leap onstage to join them for a relentless, exhilarating jam that ends so abruptly it actually seems unfair, and the audience is left trying to catch its collective breath.