The Tommys - Live In Manchester
[Manchester Academy]

A drilling percussion combination is delivered by The Tommys' Fran Robinson for opener You’re Not The One. This signals to everyone that the time for frowning and lamenting at the news that Travis Barker, drummer for tonight’s headliners (+44 will not be playing due to a broken arm, is over.

The churning bass lines of Anna Naberie wraps around the percussion to provide a platform for the spindling guitars and drawn out, Katie Jane Garside vocals of singer Stevie Shepperson. Crowd approval is given immediately in the formation of a vibrant, flailing armed mosh circle that stops in unison mid-song, in amazement at the range and power on show.

The touch paper lighting rock-out of ‘Set It Off’, sees the pit rumbling again and the searching, coming of age glam-skirting ‘Freakshow’, helps Stevie’s vocal range expand like the condom that is being inflated before our eyes.

Mind-freeing riffs and belting percussion gushes out from ‘Out Of My Head’, representing what feral rock should be about. The punk spirit oozes out of this trio of Crewe based femmes. This is more apparent in what is not here tonight and that is cheap merchandise and gimmicks, like free badges for signing the mailing list.

The only product these girls are interested in, is their music and at the end of their soaring set, there are many people present who will happily buy that.