Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Now this was an odd gig. We - me, The Minx and @millstermum - arrived fresh from a curry in Rusholme - which we'd enjoyed with my daughter, Hannah - and were ready for a bit of live music, especially at Manchester's Academy 2, which is a cracking little venue. We enjoyed a couple of drinks in the student union beforehand and then proceeded up to the auditorium.

Now, my only knowledge of Unknown Mortal Orchestra is a track that The Minx sent me two or three months ago called 'So Good At Being In Trouble'. A tad repetitive but easy enough on the ear, I was expecting an evening of gentle pop that would be perhaps not quite to my taste but enjoyable enough.

I was surprised by the line-up when they came on stage; I'd been expecting something fuller than a drums, bass and guitar set up but, you know, there's nothing wrong with that. They launched into their first song and within a few bars, The Minx turned to me with consternation on her face and, indeed, it rather did sound as though the singer was singing in a different key to the rest of the song. The second song wasn't much better although matters improved with the third, which featured a length instrumental workout, during which the drummer displayed some considerable prowess.

And, actually, this rather set the tone for the rest of the evening: the songs themselves, certainly the parts featuring singing, were not so great but the instrumental passages were enjoyable and quite reminiscent of The Wedding Present, in fact. The guitarist and drummer were both very good and complemented one another well, while the bassist provided pretty much the same foundation that Adam Clayton lent to the early U2 albums.

When it arrived, 'So Good At Being In Trouble' was quite at odds with the rest of the set and we came away a bit disappointed, really. The song of the evening for me was probably 'No Need For A Leader', which was better live than in its recorded form but, on the whole, not a band I'd go and see again.