The Crimea @ Pleasance Courtyard

If there was an award for most awkward stage presence at The Fringe, then Davey MacManus of The Crimea would romp home to victory. However his performance here, part Rain Man, part Bright Eyes, is good enough to rival the very best. In the intimate ambience of The Pleasance Courtyard the artists formerly known as The Crocketts treat those lucky enough to have stayed up late to an acoustic set that highlights just how damn good their music is. The acuteness and invention of MacManus' lyrics is much more coherent in these surroundings. The suffering behind Someone's Crying is more affecting, the eloquence of Baby Boom more audible and the surreality of fans' favourite Lottery Winners On Acid evident on a different scale. The Crimea's choice of covers (Fleetwood Mac's Everywhere and John Lennon's Jealous Guy), are a clue as to just where they fit in, somewhere between the former's naive loved up state and the baneful neurosis of the latter. [Finbarr Bermingham]