Jim Noir

Quite what the rock'n'roll cognescenti would make of someone like Jim Noir doesn't bear thinking about. As he and his suited bandmates stand to attention all polite and discerning throughout tonight's preoceedings, looking not that much unlike a troupe of undertakers out on the razzle, it's fair to say that this isn't going to be your average show.

Indeed, 'average' isn't a word that would crop up in Jim Noir's vocabulary, either in conversation or just passing the odd comment about him.

So much has been made of his satirical observations on the Mancunian way of (after)life that comparisons with the likes of The Beach Boys (honourable although maybe a little too early in the day yet...), Super Furry Animals (plausible) and Badly Drawn Boy (just downright lazy!) had been made before most of us had even heard a note. Live, as on record, I'd prefer to add The Beta Band to that list, as his dry sense of humour and ear for a hummable yet eccentric tune isn't too far removed from the amiable Glaswegians minus the odd electronic squiggle.

In between songs, Noir even manages to raise the odd chuckle here and there by the way he introduces 'Computer Song' as "the number one hit that wasn't!" and 'Eanie Meanie' as "every grown-up's childhood dream". By the time the plinkety-plonk rhythms of 'My Patch' strike up, numerous hands are raised in a prototype Mexican wave style which sparks a mass communal sing song stretching to the top of the Social's stairwell.

The party animal scenesters no doubt despair of the likes of Jim Noir but tonight proves that you don't always need a combination of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll to have a good time.