The Streets @ Barrowland, 4 Oct

“I want to try something out,” Mike Skinner declares. He wants the crowd to wait for the appropriate moment, then – basically –‘Vogue’. The stunt works well for the crowd and they all whoop and bounce after it’s done, bringing to an end both a clubby version of Blinded by the Lights and The Streets’ set. Of course there’s the obligatory encore, but Skinner's earlier instructions represent something off-putting about the performance. While it's a given that gigs are generally premeditated, the whole sequence of events just feels calculated. Skinner and his cohorts barrel through most of that first LP – where the best known tracks lie – largely ignoring the three albums since. But he seems bored with the material; speeding through or dropping lyrics and bizarrely steering clear of recent bangers like The Sherry End. The focus then lands on his antics, but even when he crowd surfs – after threatening to all night – during the encore, it's an orchestrated tactic too many for a gig where spontaneity takes a distant second place. [Jason Morton]