AbiChan @ The Magnet, Liverpool, 31 March

Soulful as Aretha herself, Queen Abi Harding takes to the Magnet for her debut gig as AbiChan – the first new music we've heard from the saxophonist since The Zutons' 2009 split. Grunge surf-rockers The Floormen are up first, however, with their poetic shrieks, seething guitars and heavy beats certainly waking the more dewy-eyed heads in attendance. They hand over the stage to teen rockers The Isrights, who act like they're playing Wembley. It's lost on the Magnet crowd; one technical blip and a borrowed guitar later, they too are off.

Next, the stars of the city's most infamous graffiti tag strut on stage. Ripping out our hearts and tearing up our minds, The Sneaky Nixons have a raw but tuneful sound; it has the potential to see them become festival favourites, hitting cities up and down the country. If there's one criticism, though, it's that there should be more trumpet.

By now the crammed and sweaty room has really heated up, and the smoke machines attempt to choke us under the purple spotlights: it's time for AbiChan to weave her way on stage. A wide-eyed Harding seems taken aback by the sheer amount of people awaiting her arrival, and though her sound is suggestive of both early Amy Winehouse and Paloma Faith, she makes it her own as the night goes on: screaming fans pull shapes around the dancefloor to her soulful grooves and funk tunes.

There's no doubting the leap she has made with her new band (completed by Tim Cunningham, Jim Sharrock, Riley Broudie and Shannon Bamford). Recently released debut Whispers gets its first live airing and the crowd go wild, jiving ridiculously and mouthing the lyrics. When it all ends, on a sweet but bitter note, a packed-out Magnet simply isn't ready for the show to be over.