Beth Ditto protests too much. 'Do you feel young" she hollered early on, before adding "I don't", one of several references during the gig to her age now being 43. Yet the Gossip singer still displayed the glee and energy of a teenager at their first show, even if her band are now into the reunion phase of a career spanning over two decades.
From the start she was sashaying across the stage with joy, a state possibly pumped up by the fact one of her favourite ever bands, the Yummy Fur, had supported on the night. She even donned a T-shirt of the cult Glasgow group for the encore, and seemed visibly emotional at points.
At her best all that emotion was channeled into her soulful, powerful voice. It is an amazing weapon live, giddying the crowd up on the rousingly funky "Give It Up For Love" and then getting down and dirty on the punky blues of "Jason's Basement", a cut from early in their career.
Throughout it all she bounded about, while providing a seemingly endless amount of between song chat, remisicing on everything from difficulties understanding the Scottish accent to the band's early days in Arkansas. While she is a terrific presence, there were times when you wished the band could plough ahead with material and really kick-start momentum, instead of the overly stop-start feel her banter created, entertaining as it was.
A bigger concern was the actual sound. Ditto remarked early on she wasn't fond of sound-checking, but it was the rest of the band - now a five piece with bass and keyboards added - that too often felt flat. The funkier part of the band went missing on several occasions, notably the stodgy rhythm underpinning "Act of God" or the oddly leaden "Get Lost."
Drummer Hannah Blilie was particularly ill-served by the sound, and while guitarist Nathan Howdeshell provided considerable brim, more looseness would have been welcome. Perhaps other factors played in too, from the fact it was a midweek show to the venue's industrial design making it feel like you're watching a band in-between shifts at a factory, but the night's vibe was never a constant party, more an intermittent dance.
Luckily the thick groove of "Move In The Right Direction", the boogieing pop sheen on "Holy Cross" and the inevitable set closer "Standing In The Way Of Control" were able to raise spirits. On the latter's righteous anger and irresistible dancefloor desire, no other words were needed.
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