WHEN the crowd are jumping up and down chanting ‘We’re so happy’ at the end of the night, you know you’ve been to a pretty good gig.

Granted, it was part of the lyrics of The Wombat’s seminal mid-2000s hit Let’s Dance to Joy Division, but there weren’t many at a packed out O2 Guildhall Southampton who would disagree with the sentiment.

From start to finish the Liverpool-based rockers put in a high energy performance that sounded fantastic, bringing the crispness of an album to a live environment.

And frontman Matthew Murphy possesses one of those rare things – a voice that sounds just as good live as it does recorded – bringing that little bit extra to the performance.

The trio – made up of Murphy, drummer Dan Haggis and bassist Tord Knudsen – had the crowd on-side from the moment they strolled on stage and belted out Give Me a Try, one of the stand-out songs from latest album Glitterbug.

The strength of the overall album is a little shaky compared to their previous efforts, so there was a slight lull in the middle of the set when new material got more of a showing.

But when you have songs as strong as Kill the Director, Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves) and Moving to New York in your repertoire it doesn’t matter too much, with the opening chords of the latter blowing the crowd away within just 10 minutes of the gig’s start.

And they have a good range as proved by 1996, a melancholy and heartfelt lament to lost youth.

The Wombats write off-beat songs about love, and it's this quirkiness, coupled with brilliant use of ‘oooos’ in backing vocals, that makes their songs so catchy, whether they are jaunty songs about leaving love and life behind to indulge a drinking habit or falling in love with a poledancer.

Just ask the crowd, they went home so happy.