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THESE last few years, there's been no artist break through who's been as exciting, as beguiling and just flat-out mindblowing as Claire Boucher aka Grimes.

The Canadian's brand of electropop leaves all her peers down in the dust, taking in as it does, elements of hip hop, Belgian techno, K-pop, industrial and a ton of other ideas, often all in the same song. All wrapped up in with a visual imagination that is just magical.

The atmospheric intro track Laughing and Not Being Normal was greeted by sheer mania from the sold-out crowd who were screaming their approval before Grimes even hit the stage.

When she did, to the pulsing Kraftwerk-meets-Japan sounds of the immense Genesis, the place exploded.

(Image: Tim Gray)

Her previous Glasgow shows at the Berkeley Suite and The Arches saw her firmly in producer mode, fixed behind her banks of synths, but right away we could see this was a new, more bombastic side to Grimes that we haven't seen before.

Constantly bouncing around the stage, Boucher never stopped dancing for a second, whether while playing her kit or whipping the crowd up at the front of the stage.

Backed by a troupe of dancers who echoed Public Enemy's S1Ws in their militaristic moves, Grimes also had her astounding support act HANA as part of the crew, adding not just moves, but vocals and percussion to the formidable noise.

(Image: Tim Gray)

Highlights? Perry much everything was a highlight. Scream was sung in Russian as Boucher admitted she couldn't speak its Mandarin lyrics, originally by Taiwanese rapper Aristophanes. It didn't matter. It was still magnificent.

Tracks like Be A Body and Go were just dazzling. Pop music for sure, but sonically interesting, abrasive but sugary and just flat out impossible not to be carried away by.

The always-astonishing Oblivion closed the main set, but in typically cool fashion she announced she was going straight into the encore. No messing about with fake finales here.

(Image: Tim Gray)

And what a finale it was. Kill V Maim, the best track off her new Art Angels album was transformed into new shapes, punctuated by pneumatic beats, it's fusion of driving techo, mutant disco and big-room pop was just sublime.

In just one hour, Grimes proved yet again why she's one of the most vital, the most interesting and just the most *fun* pop stars out there right now. In an ideal world it would be her playing The Hydro and not the identikit popsters, but it doesn't really matter.

Grimes is so far ahead of the pack it's not true. Unreal.

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