Mew

Sadly there's little to report beyond that. The first time this writer saw Mew, they seemed accomplished but detached, uninvolved in the emotions they portrayed. Subsequent live experiences dismissed that notion - tonight's show brings it hurtling back again. ULU does them no favours - it's a mediocre venue at the best of times, its sound sucking the juiciest melodies dry and leaving them somewhat... well... shrivelled. '156' and 'Shespider' are usually wolves in sheeps' clothing, their darkest undercurrents nestled beneath a sugary layer of harmonies and jangly guitar chords, but tonight they sound tame and toothless.

Newer offerings, including the B-side to 'She Came Home AGAIN For Christmas', make a none too impressive dent in the memory, sounding formulaic by Mew's standards. Even 'Comforting Sounds', the traditional set closer that expands from a quietly unsettling number into an elephantine, squealing mass of guitars and guitars and more guitars, layered over each other with heartfelt abandon... doesn't. At the point where it should erupt and billow like a freak storm and knock you flat, it rather offers a sleepy breeze somewhere around your ears. Meeting the "perfectly acceptable" mark but really not delivering what they're evidently capable of, it's a disappointing show for Mew. If you came here tonight to hear some lovely, nice pop tunes, then no doubt it was a charming experience, but if you want more emotion from a live experience, more passion, more intensity, just MORE, methinks you're in the wrong room.