Milburn @ ABC

As a punter raises his arms heavenwards and sings the words "You look with your eyes, not with your hands" as if reciting the Psalms, praying for a swift end to this Britpop revisited nonsense is the only course of action. It's difficult to hold anything against Milburn personally, as tonight's performance is enthusiastic and note perfect (new single What Will You Do is particularly punchy), delivered by a band who obviously love what they do, but their sound pinpoints the problem with the current scene. Safety in music shouldn't be tolerated, let alone celebrated, and you don't get much more derivative than Milburn (face it - cliches were all once true and Milburn ARE ripping off the Arctic Monkeys), yet the crowd roars as if the three-chord, temperate shuffles emanating from the stage are the most amazing songs ever written, demanding nothing more than musical retreads. Milburn's set itself is perfectly acceptable; what it represents is certainly not. [Heather Crumley]