It’s not often that I witness the sort of pure pop spectacle that I saw last night, when Mancunian duo Hurts played their second sold-out show at Zurich’s X-Tra. I’m usually to be found on the more rock/indie part of the spectrum. But what can I say, I’ve got a soft spot for big pop symphonies and grand gestures. Like a big, fluffy, whipped-cream-cherry-topped ice-cream sundae, who doesn’t like to indulge in something sweet, luscious-looking and insubstantial every once in a while?

Opening with ‘Unspoken’ and moving on through the rest of their debut album, Happiness, Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson have clearly been rifling through Gary Numan‘s style book, and have more than a nodding acquaintance with The Pet Shop Boys in both music and method (although are perhaps not quite up to speed on the irony front). Nonetheless, it’s a damn good-looking show, with Mr Hutchcraft’s studied elegance, diamond-cut cheekbones and careful posing making more than one female fan in my close vicinity scream her lungs out in adoration.

There’s a fine distinction between the dapper, sophisticated pop product of the moment and the played-to-death radio-friendly middling pop staple. Hurts cut it dangerously close to the line. But even my stone-cold indie heart was melted a little at the admittedly overblown but in-the-moment glorious and grand rendition of ‘Stay‘.  And ‘Verona’ is 2011′s ‘Vienna‘, of course. A cover version of Kylie Minoque‘s ‘Confide In Me‘ (which I’ve always thought to be a fantastically sexy pop song) doesn’t live up to the slow-burning sexiness of the original – not that the crowd notices. A few long-stemmed white roses thrown into the crowd, and Messrs. Hutchcraft and Anderson have the crowd eating out of their hands. As far as pop spectacles go, it’s pretty much perfect.

It’s a sold-out show, and as it’s been rather a long time since my last sold-out-concert experience, I’ve forgotten to engage the appropriate concert protocol – ie, getting there super early to get pole position, with sharpened elbows at the ready. So after fighting my way through the crowd and up the stairs, I’ve ended up perched uncomfortably on a ledge somewhere for the duration of the concert. By the time Theo has finished emoting the last few lines of ‘Better than Love’, I’m more than ready to leave the white roses and uplifting hand gestures behind. Sweet treats, I remind myself, are best left for the occasional indulgence.

Setlist: Unspoken/Silver Lining/Wonderful Life/Happiness/Blood, Tears & Gold/Evelyn/Sunday/Mother Nature/Verona/Devotion/Confide In Me/Stay/Illuminated Encore: Better Than Love

Happiness is out now on RCA