Magazine @ O2 Academy, 16 Feb

After a rambling off-stage monologue, pretentiously detailing the events that have led ‘punk-not-punk’ legends Magazine here tonight, singer Howard Devoto punctures the air of feverish expectation with a humble, all too familiar truth: “But...there’s also this girl I want to impress.” At this point, a lean and resplendent Barry Adamson rumbles out the one-note bass salvo of The Light Pours Out Of Me before Devoto himself enters stage-left, wearing three-quarter length trousers, sandals and a bright pink suit jacket. Eyes are comically rubbed in disbelief. Mid-set, a pulpit is carted on-stage, allowing Reverend Devoto to preach to the converted. Part two sees a healthy dose from the seminal Real Life - notably Definitive Gaze and Shot By Both Sides - before an encore of the ominous Motorcade, where keyboardist Dave Formula strangles its chiming motif and Devoto careers around the stage, ‘conducting’ each note from thin air. Whoever the lucky lady is, she'll be mightily impressed by this bizarre courtship ritual. [Darren Carle]