The band took to the stage for their final headline show.

Having originally started out at Camden’s Electric Ballroom, the band were granted a venue upgrade when that swiftly sold out, landing them at Chalk Farm’s impressive Roundhouse.

Opening the night was Alan Power & the Take Twos, who strode on stage wielding cowboy hats and a confidence that led them to put on an energetic and flamboyant performance.

After they had warmed up the stage, The Magic Gang’s longstanding pal Rory Marshall introduced the gang with his eccentric American persona, explaining how he had met them when they were four nerds in Dickies many moons ago. “The final act is the disappearing act,” he closed his speech with, leaving the stage while we eagerly anticipated the band’s final headline show as a four piece.

The band had just completed shows in Glasgow and Manchester, so London was their last chance to perform a full hour long set, as the upcoming slots they have at festivals would only allow for shortened 30 to 45 minute long sets.

It’s bittersweet, of course, as I sat in the wings and thought about when I first saw The Magic Gang. It was 2017, I was a massive fan of their first few EPs, and they were coming to St. Albans, a 30 minute or so drive from my house. It was a tiny, crammed room at The Horn, miles away from the substantial size upgrade of the Roundhouse seven years later. I’d seen them the following year, playing All Points East, in a line-up that sandwiched them in between Blossoms and The Amazons.

To watch them grow from the beginning is one thing, but to still be here as a fan to the very end is something else entirely. Knowing that this was the last time I’d hear this phenomenal band live was heartbreaking, but this send off felt fitting.

As they ran onto the stage, they wasted no time in getting straight into the Intro from their second album Death of the Party, before gliding into Think. They then changed the tune to earlier releases, strumming and harmonising their way through Getting Along, All This Way, Lady, Please, Only Waiting and one of their greats, Feeling Better.

After going down memory lane — and rightfully so, the band do not have a bad song — they played second album favourites Death of the Party, What Have You Got to Lose and Just a Minute before taking it right back to their debut single She Won’t Ghost, which is such an old track it can no longer be found on streaming services. It’s safe to say that they’ve come a long way since that first track and their debut and second album proves that, with their first album ending up twelfth in the UK charts.

After playing a track only a portion of the crowd knew, the band changed the pace with proven crowd pleaser Alright, before bounding into early release Jasmine, 2017 standalone single Your Love and EP Three highlight Hotel Apathy (if we’re being honest, all of EP Three is incredible).

The band then careened into Slippin’ before Caroline well and truly got the crowd going, as frontman Jack Kaye took the liberty to jump off the stage and point the mic at the crowd, encouraging them to sing the chorus for them.

Then came personal favourite and one of the first Magic Gang songs I heard, All That I Want Is You, which felt very much like a full circle moment as I sat there at the biggest show of theirs I’d ever been to, wondering if they’d make a return in a few years. Will we get a One Direction reunion before a Magic Gang one? Probably.

Jack, Paeris, Kristian and Gus all said their farewells before exiting the stage to pulsating chants of “encore” — the crowd knew full well that they’d be back. You don’t get the chance to play the Roundhouse everyday, you’ve got to make the most of your final headline show as a band.

The band took it back a notch or two with the emotional EP Three love song Life Without You, asking the crowd to wave their phone torches and join them in sharing a moment.

The pace returned upon the opening notes of Arthur theme song Believe in Yourself, a track the band had covered during lockdown that went down so well they had to release it on streaming. This translated to a heartwarming rendition, leaving the crowd full of adoration of this band from Brighton, and rightfully so.

The quartet closed the night with my mother’s favourite track (that she had wished she could’ve witnessed live), Take Back The Track, a true masterclass in catchy indie pop; one that turned into a very danceable performance.

Closing the night was a classic Magic Gang track in the form of How Can I Compete, a song I think anyone who listened to indie music in 2017 must’ve had on repeat, and a very apt closer for this emotional yet high energy night.

After the final chord had been struck, Jack and Kristian sat by Paeris’s drum kit, presumably to take in the size of the audience that had gathered to say goodbye to them, and Gus took the wheel of saying all their thanks: to their family, partners, friends, manager, label and, finally, their fans.

They took their final bow as a band, and that was it.