HEADS down, guitars in vice-like grips, and concentration total.

The heads down bit really does happen, and it really does matter as the genre is rather unglamorously called ‘shoegazing’.

Into South Wales rolled two of the top bands of the theme, Alcest from France, and Mono, all the way from Tokyo.

The packed-out Globe audience was treated first to the Frenchmen, who filled the air with spacey tracks like Autre Temps, Onyx, Eclosion, closing to much applause with Delivrance.

Just as they exited the stage a few strange people in the crowd also left… maybe they’d had enough shoegazing for the week, or perhaps a late school-night bus to catch.

More’s the pity, for Mono entered to play an hour and a bit of some mesmerising stuff. Pick for me were Ashes in the Snow, Dream Odyssey, Recoil Ignite and Requiem for Hell.

The gentle tinkle of glockenspiel coupled with perfectly-timed drumming and ferociously powerful guitar made for a memorable night. Both bands, being as far away from mainstream as you can get, are more Hamburg dive bar than Cardiff shopping street, but, at times during a couple of tracks it felt like listening to a classic like Spunk Rock by those old South Walian acid rock legends Man.

All in all, a good night enjoyed by a (mostly) appreciative crowd.