Three young musical bucks excitedly made their way onto the stage and patiently waited for the buoyant entrance of singer Jemina Pearl. The singer’s provocative, exuberant and confident stage and vocal manner brought to mind a young Katie Jane Garside, as these gruff Nashville upstarts dove into a post punk pearl of a set with a sound that has caught the attention of Caleb Followill (Kings Of Leon).

The cutting and fiery ‘Adventure’ satisfied appetites of an intrigued, compelled and expectant crowd. The band invited everyone to join the party, although maybe it is just a tad early in their career for full on mosh pit action, as guitarist Jonas’ ill-fated stage dive implied, with him falling to the floor quicker than the Backstreet Boys will plummet down the charts.  Previous single ‘Fire Department’ washed gatherers with a refreshing spirit, being built upon abrasive guitars and Jemina’s deep vocal style that belies her youth and sent out a warning that Be Your Own Pet have just started firing.

The second album of The Kills; ‘No Wow’ was not the only evidence of the growing nature of the British and American crossed outfit on show, as VV’s luxurious mop is creeping further and further down her back with each visit to Manchester. A forward looking set started off with title track from the second album and saw focused looking Jamie Hince producing a rumbling guitar riff, to underline VV’s P.J. Harvey and slice of Patti Smith vocals. Matters became more laid back when the bluesy ‘The Way You Love’ revealed a slightly more tender side to the vocals. VV prowled the stage in a cat-like fashion and seemed, at one point, to be scratching her back on an amp to the side of the stage.

The first album huggers had to wait until nigh on mid-set for the first airing of a ‘Keep On Your Meanside’ Track. However, it was definitely worth the wait, when the pair’s microphones were crossed to make for the lateral mind; a heart shape that could me only one thing; ‘Kissy Kissy’. This was performed with the usual intense gusto by the pair and is surely now on the way to becoming a theme tune for modern relationships? The popular ‘Fried My Little Brains’ and the snappy ‘Cat Claw’ saw the tempo build up neatly for an insurgent finale by way of ‘Fuck The People’. The Kills demonstrated tonight that their ability to daze, amaze and confuse people is only growing.

David Adair