Friday 19/03/04 Multi Purpose Chemical @ Barfly, Liverpool

They started out superbly, sucking in the audience whether they wanted to be or not. They never fail to entertain.

So all is bliss - even the slipknot-hoodie-wearing teenagers were headbanging happily along, their predecessor grunge-heads following just behind.  But then, divine - well, retribution. "How many of you like the Mother Mary?!", screams Andres 'The Spic' LeFevre, "This one's for Mary!".  When the following song simply consists of "Bitch!!!  Bitch!!!  Bitch!!! You...****ing...Biiiiiitch!!!", the ol' VM ain't gonna be too stoked.

She leaps into action, messing with The Bear's bass amp and causing the sound to go funny.  After getting down on his knees to pray forgiveness, hey presto! it works again.  They start the song again, but now Joseph intercedes "WHAT THE **** DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY WIFE?!",  SHAZAM! string broken.  End of song.  They frantically try to get a new bass, and he finally gets one, but the tuning is absolutely atrocious (obviously the work of Jo'n'Mo) and stays that way for the rest of the gig.

OK, so they made it through the gig ALIVE and the crowd was happy, but it wasn't the best they've played.  They're usually a great live band and definitely worth seeing, but this time: Mother Mary had the last laugh.

Photos by Sakura Henderson