The Futureheads @ ABC2, 2 Dec

Sunderland stalwarts The Futureheads demonstrate that they still pack a formidable live punch on the first of two nights at ABC2. Taking to a stage much smaller than they were accustomed to in their post-Hounds of Love, pre-unceremonious-dropping-from-679 heyday, the ‘Heads rip through a set heavy with first-album favourites and recent singles. As ever, there’s a note of confrontation in the performance, almost tangible on vicious set closer (there’s no encore) Man Ray, as well as in the group’s sarky banter with the audience. One gets the sense that The Futureheads are a band still in the process of regrouping, of rediscovering what makes them tick, and, finally, of deciding whether they are most at ease being showmen or angry social commentators. Tonight’s show lies somewhere in the middle. The band aren’t at their best, but in trying to find themselves, their tightness and fury renders them much more powerful than most of the current art-punk pack. [Gillian Watson]