CityLife

Dirty Pretty Things @ The Ritz

POOR little Carl Barât: always the consummate professional but constantly the runner-up to his former band mate, Pete Doherty, in the popularity stakes. If Pete was John Lennon, Carl would be… well… Ringo.

And yet, his post-Libertines band, Dirty Pretty Things, can still pack them in on a night when the inexplicably popular Pigeon Detectives begin their two-night assault on Manchester. Which is good news, especially when you're pushing that difficult sophomore record.

You could put the petit frontman in your top pocket, but Barât packs confidence like Pavarotti packed pounds. And so he doesn't shy away from the challenge of something new, surging on stage to Buzzards And Crows - one of Romance At Short Notice's biggest rule breakers with its Captain Beefheart angularity.

The shrieking high-camp of Hippy Son and chunky, Kooks-like country rhythms of Plastic Hearts set the tone for the new record loudest, as well as the rehashing of vitriolic b-side Chinese Dogs.

But they also outline the dichotomy of this band. In the studio, the quartet have always sounded like well-mannered London geezers, knitting a few nice riffs together for the weekend knees up. Live, the only suggestion of gentility is Barât's Wildean locks.

Equipment

Guitarist Anthony Rossomondo is deliciously badly behaved, sending his equipment hurling into the crowd, while drummer Gary Powell spiritedly takes it out on his kit and bassist Didz 'The Moustache' Hammond howls his harmonies with preacher-like enthusiasm.

On stage is where you get the chance to really fall in love with the Dirty Pretty Things, then: the artful dodger cheekiness of The Wondering, the Libertines hang-over of Doctors & Dealers, the Cockney overtures of Last Of The Small Town Playboys and the Wire-esque disjointedness of The Enemy all find their energy here.

Their delivery - with business-like accuracy, but one that ends in the trashing of the boardroom and someone eating the flip charts - even dwarf big singles Deadwood and Bang Bang (You're Dead).

Which speaks volumes about the band's live credentials, but could leave Romance At Short Notice sounding a little sterile by comparison.

Did you go to the show? Why not tell us what you thought by entering our Reviewer of the Month competition.