Saturday 12/10/02 Puressence @ Academy 2, Liverpool

A few years ago, after the fuss in Manchester was beginning to quieten down and the Brit-Pop debate was subsiding, in a quiet corner of the mainstream subconscious, Puressence released a string of records to subdued, but nevertheless substantial praise from the music press (that's a lot of "subs", I just wateched 'K19 - Widowermaker' for ****sache!). They attracted fans from all over the country, who had witnessed their faultless live performances, and that army of fans, it seems, although a bit older, are still as loyal as they always were. Because the Stanley Theatre (or Academy 2, if you can be arsed with the Uni's stab at SJM) is packed from front to back with 20 and 30 somethings stood on tippy-toe, desperate to get a look at their old heroes.

They're looking balder and podgier nowadays, but James Mudriczki's trademark gender defying vocal is still there. Honestly, this guys voice is "stupefying" to say the least. Although his bid to be cool, by wearing a pair of Posh-style shades is a little bit sad. Anyway, that said, the crowd don't really seem to give a shit. Every song is belted back word for word by their audience, I think it's safe to say that they've got "real" fans.

The Puressence sound is that of the big indie band. They manage to encapsulate everything every shoe-gazing group has ever tried to sound like, rolling it up in one big fat 10 skinner and smoking it all in one go. They've got soaring anthemic choruses, that have classic and timeless stamped all over them. I'd always thought that JJ72 had ripped off Radiohead, because they rose to fame during that period when the great search for the next Thom Yorke was on, but it could well be that they lifted their sound straight from a Puressence LP.

The only problem with all this though, is it's all very nice and clean and tidy. Nobody's rolling around on the floor, no-ones swearing at the audience, or pogoing around on stage. It's all really safe and slightly self congratulatory. Puressence have had their day, they attracted a massive loyal following, who they're now playing to, and that's great. But really I can't see that now is their time, that this is their last big chance, because the timeless classic indie band, although it can't get any better than this, has been done to death, at least for a while.

Photos by Dave Evans