Orphan Boy opened another successful promotion by the Designer Magazine organisation, and the band supporters have made a good showing tonight.   The Manchester based, Cleethorpes borne 3 piece wear their influences on their sleeve, but their amalgam of modish type rock tinged with a bit of ska, leads to sporadic outbreaks of dancing around the small dance floor which isn’t a bad thing..

The odds are stacked against Lucky Soul breaking though, and it’s nothing to do with music, but everything with attitude.   Whilst stood at the bar, diminutive front woman, Ali Howard, orders “Three pints of water please.”    Such an audacity eh!  Trying to ensure that your voice is in perfect fettle for a performance is no sort of attitude nowadays.    This type of abstinence from the hard drinking cocaine indulging, rock’n’roll life style is indicative of their dedication to their music, but almost always invariably ensures that the press overlook you.

Only one pint is for her, whilst the other two are for the two guitarists who straddle each side of her to form a line up reminiscent of those early 60’s type soul groups, which is entirely intentional.  The 5 piece just about manage to fit onto the snug stage of the Star & Garter, with enough room for her to throw moves from the innocent past of Martha and the Vandellas or Donna Lewis (Nowhere to Run), whilst the front trio provide harmonies from an age when the Supremes were supreme and Phil Spector didn’t know how to load a gun.

With her blond hair and striking green dress, her position at the centre of things is emphasised by the light coloured jackets of her adjacent cohorts.  The sugar coated tunes seemingly catch a potentially cynical crowd off guard, and if you close our eyes you could be listening to a Motown set list, and only the most cold hearted cannot appreciate that.

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