Darwin Deez, Sound Control, Manchester

Here we are at Sound Control Manchester for the first UK tour in what feels like an age by Darwin Deez, who bring us their third offering Double Down set to be released on September 18^th through Lucky number records and we honestly couldn’t be more excited to finally see them live.

At first glance the venue doesn't appear as full as we expect, but there's still a sizeable crowd. With it being quite some time since their last UK visits you can see why some people may have lost interest, but tonight still proves they have some core fans in the city. First on the stage tonight are the quirky all girl outfit Peluche who although dogged by sound issues to start with, make a solid impact on the crowd, drifting though their alternative keyboard-driven pop songs one after another. They certainly hold some potential for the future, and sound quite unique but they must work on their stage performance and crowd interaction for the next time they're here.

With the support over it's time for Darwin Deez who comes to the stage with a strange but entertaining dance rendition of a number of old pop classics. They instantly grab our attention from the word go and before long the crowd are hooked. A few crowd-pleasing oldies get chucked in by way of 'Constellations’ and ‘You Can’t Be My Girl' before we're presented with another dance attack this time in the shape of Michael Jackson moves and beats. Next we have the new stuff, and I’m surprised to see the crowd really going for it on these new songs such as ‘Kill your Attitude’ These tracks may only have been out a few months but trust me, this crowd knows every single word.

You can see why people have stuck with Darwin over the years since there penultimate big hit ‘Radar Detector’ and the crowd goes for it more than any point in the night . My only concern for the whole set was his set closing decision to play ‘Red Shift’ a slow ballad number before the end. For me that took all the energy and sing along entertainment out of the end but still I was very impressed with the overall show. This is a band that knows how to entertain and they have the writing ability to keep their head above water for some years to come. Let’s hope they come back soon so we can admire their super pop grooves and killer showmanship again.