Von Sudenfed @ The Liquid Room

This bizarre meeting of minds between The Fall's Mark E Smith and German electro outfit Mouse on Mars draws a respectable if unspectacular throng to the Liquid Room. And if there are a few Fall disciples in, their reverence is a hushed one, as if they are trying to get their heads round the new incarnation of Mark. And Mr Smith is his usual enigmatic self tonight, spending most of the proceedings seated stage left, offering up the odd slurred rhyming couplet while leafing through a fold-over A4 pad full of scrawled lyrics; when he does shuffle onstage he looks slightly befuddled, like a man in a perpetual search for lost spectacles. His charisma is unquestionable, but it's Jan St Werner and Andi Toma who are stealing the show, offering up chunky slices of effervescent electro exemplified by the spiky Fledermaus Can't Get Enough. There is no doubt that Smith is making a notable contribution, but his ego is clearly pricked: "I filled this club," he declares during the encore; that may be true Mark, but it's the duo behind the decks who are making us dance. [Barry Jackson]