Let me explain… I'd heard rave reviews about the Authentics (as a live act), true, we at Glitzine have given them two bad CD reviews and after the second I received a barrage of insults from fans so figured there must be something there. I guess my true curiosity lay in whether this would be a third.

But it won't be! I am 100% happy to inform you I now know the reason why the fans didn't appreciate the CD reviews. The band transcribes FAR better as a 'live' band, I personally found 'Supercharged' and 'Blondes Make the Best Victims' to be slightly lacking, I'm not here to re-hash on what's already been covered, but trust me when I say, if it came down to 'studio' versus 'live', 'live' would be Muhammed Ali retaining his Heavyweight Title in 1964 against the formidable Sonny Liston.

Yeah, they sounded a little sloppy in places, but this was by far outweighed by the 'Super-Charged' power of a 'Tonne of Bricks' hammering down on your head and bringing you 'Back To Earth' with one almighty bump! Sorry guys, it would have been far too difficult to get all seven song titles into a lil ditty hehe! Firing on all cylinders, you can tell they love what they do and this really came across to the audience, and with killer tunes like 'U Wanna Be Me' it wouldn't surprise me if you see a lot more of them. So get out there and show your support, afterall, without the fans where would any band be!

DDCL were yet again outstanding and are gonna be one of those bands I'll go and watch whenever I can (as should you). 'Ms LaPish' seems to be a regular opener as 'Fireworks' seems to be a regular closer, but don't ever let this put you off as you're guaranteed one hell of a show, as well as a variety of hot babes on stage for 'X E Cute My X', what more could a bloke ask for? Oh yeah, that's right, music!

Whether they're playing to 10 people or a 100, one thing you'll always see is dedication, something more bands should take note of. Another thing more bands should take note of is the fact they don't take themselves seriously. Now don't get me wrong, my meaning behind this is that they're not up their own backsides thinking they're the worlds greatest, they love a laugh and topical conversation displays this, and did… as Hilda started bantering about our beautiful Government and the Smoking ban before heading into third song 'Britain's Great' (or not, as the case may be). From a big 'fuck you' to pom poms and skirts-a-swaying… see, I told you they don't take themselves seriously! Eight songs is just not enough to get by on, headliners all the time they should be, and the lasses in the ladies toilets afterwards would probably agree. They were singing their lil hearts out to 'LMFAO' and who can blame them, this is the one song that will annoy the hell out of you purely and simply because it sticks to you like superglue. You WILL be humming or singing this in your head for many a day later.

Now the last time I saw The Glitterati they actually played my home city, goodness knows why, it's not as if we're strewn with folks lovin the good time rock n' roll here, this is metalville anonymous, and the turn out kinda showed it. Shame! And double shame as the guys got their van broke into and gear stolen *yikes! Thankfully there was a far better turn out to tonight's show and no gear going astray, always a good thang!

But I was surprised… you REALLY could tell they'd been off the live music circuit. I'd heard four of their new tracks via myspace, which are all very much in the same vein as 'any' off their debut release, but 'live', these new tracks sounded flat. The passion just didn't seem to be there, even with the classics 'Back In Power' and 'Betterman'. The talk in the crowd wasn't inspiring. I love these guys with all my heart but those who hadn't seen them before were saying they weren't overly enthused and became a little bored by the end of the set. I've recently heard that Nic and Jamie have left the band. Nothing sinister, but I wonder if this was the underlying current that lost them their usually smoldering fire?

Whatever it is the guys have lost needs to be re-established quickly, this was not The Glitterati as I know them to be. They have far more to offer; now whilst it wasn't in full view tonight it WAS still in view, just a little rose tinted. Fair due to them though, they were shattered by the end of the set but still came back and played out a 2 song encore.

Two great things about The Glitterati (amongst others) 1. they're truly genuine guys and 2. they have time for their fans.

Make sure you get yourself over to their myspace and hear what they should sound like, as having seen them 'live' previously I know full well they sound exactly as they do on a studio cut.

There's not a great deal I particularly like about the UK these days; the weather sucks, politics… don't get me started on that one, however, knowing all three of these bands are British kinda makes me proud to be here.

by Spice D. Warlock

If anybody has any photos from the Glitterati/Drugdealer Cheerleader/The Authentics gig and would like to see them in this column, drop me a line @ EMAIL

Visit the Glitterati Website

Visit the Drugdealer Cheerleader Website

Visit the Authentics Website