Tuesday 01/03/05 Erasure, Client, Piney Gir @ Academy, Glasgow

Two dedicated followers of the Blues Brothers' fashion accompany solo artist Piney Gir as she toddles on to the stage. Sporting a blue puffball dress, she matches her image with some 60s sounding bossa nova tunes. Truck Records label mate Oliver Horton from Trademark is one of her onstage Blues Brothers, and he sings a catchy duet with her about spending the night together, ooer.

Client, appear in the popular One In Front Of The Microphone Stand and One Behind The Keyboard Formation. In tight blue blouses, black skirts and black gloves, the kinky air hostess' look must have pleased the scattering of heterosexual men in the crowd especially when Sarah (behind the microphone stand) is repeatedly shouting “Uh” at them as well as throwing them the occasional shoulder shuffle and some daring dance moves. She really lets loose during ‘What Brought Us To This’ she holds the microphone wire stretched above her head whilst singing the chorus, but it's ‘Don’t Call Me Baby’ that wins the Gigwise thumbs up award and believe me I nearly cried out for a dance routine. Though the absolute highlight has to be the glorious ‘Pornography’, their recent number 22 chart hit, which sounds ten times better without that Libertines person doing his impression of a drunk uncle at a wedding reception over the top of it. 

Right from the opener of ‘No Doubt’ off their new album ‘Nightbird’, Erasure's Andy Bell jumped, pranced and twirled across the stage for two hours with an amazing amount of energy. The crowd reaction to ‘Breathe’, a top five hit for them in January, indicated it’s sure to become one of the fans favourites right up there with 'Stop' and 'A Little Respect'. Between throwing hand fulls of glitter at the audience silver panted Andy whilst singing ‘Blue Savannah’ manages to knock his microphone off its stand with over enthusiastic pom pomming of his purple fan of feathers. New single, ‘Don’t Say You Love Me’ (out on 14 March) seems to hold the crowd's attention but it’s not as strong as ‘Breathe’.