Tuesday 02/08/05 El Presidente @ Somerset House, London

This picture of cheeriness was a far cry from the tired band who stumbled on to support Starsailor this evening. While the 'Sailors impressed with their positivity and spirit of fun, El Presidente looked exhausted, and gave the impression they'd already played a gig that day, may well play a gig after, and probably busk at Euston the following morning. Worse, they look miniscule and uncomfortable onstage - even though Somerset House is perhaps one of the most beautiful settings a band could hope to play in. Thankfully, lead singer Dante Gizzi looks suitably in character as a small Cuban rebrobate snuggled protectively around his microphone, and Laura Mark's breathy vocals make a wonderful impression within the tracks.

Playing live, despite the band's tired sombreness and disappointing entrance, at times they're still pretty radiant. All the live versions are much better than the screechy production on the album, where Dante's voice is raised to levels only dolphins can hear. '100mph' is trashier while 'Rocket' is heavier with less synth. Perhaps a slight snag is that some of the melodies seem a tad obvious and repetitive, particularly 'Turn this Thing Around' which has an 'eighties ring reminiscent of the mighty Foreigner.

Maybe they need some tea and biscuits, but the band look over-gigged and largely uninspired to be playing in such a setting. One of the side effects of the attacks of recent weeks is that every band spend ten minutes telling Londoners how wonderful they are. We've learnt to lap it up, but El Presidente barely talk to the crowd. They come on, play, and get the hell out of dodge. It's all a bit of a disappointment from a band who last time embodied all the modern verve and passion that Gigwise had not been seen for quite some time.