CityLife

Orange Rockcorps + Lady GaGa + N-Dubz + The Enemy

ORANGE RockCorps gigs are true money-can’t-buy experiences, because, brilliantly, each audience member has spent a minimum of four hours volunteering in the local community to get their grubby hands on a ticket.

A decent reward, the show felt like a real event – four decent names on the bill, a special stage set and Channel 4’s Alex Zane as compere (even if he was incapable of shrieking a sentence without mentioning one of the event’s three sponsors).

The first musical act was surprise guest VV Brown. Yet to live up to the hype surrounding her when she appeared in all the 'tips for 2009' lists back in January, she was an energetic opener nevertheless, veering from rockabilly to reggae and ending with her great current single Shark In The Water.

I might happily have performed community service not to watch next act N-Dubz, but they went down a storm with the crowd.

With a glamorous singer and two MCs they’re a bit like Black Eyed Peas, but forged on the streets of Camden instead of LA.

The highlight of their set was final track Number 1, which saw rapper Tinchy Stryder join them on stage as an unbilled surprise guest.

Coventry’s The Enemy followed, and their no-nonsense indie-rock provided a neat counterpart to the otherwise glam line-up.

A 20-minute set gave them time only for big-hitters, and they belted out Away From Here, You’re Not Alone, and a couple from latest album Music For The People with no messing around.

“Enjoy GaGa,” mumbled singer Tom Clarke on exiting, and we did.

She may have been through Manchester enough times recently to earn the nickname Lady Yo-Yo, but the pop diva made the entire evening her own.

It was a shorter set than she might normally play, but we got the full GaGa experience, including two costume changes, an entrance on a scooter and a section where she hammered a glass piano like a demented lounge singer.

She began with the standout track Paparazzi, wearing what could only be described as a broken mirror, and exited with Poker Face, dressed like a slutty Wilma Flintstone.

Her stage banter ranged from curt admonishments (“I’m a pop star, not a dart board,” when fans kept throwing offerings at her) to gushing praise for the young volunteers.

And judging by the ecstatic response, the love was entirely reciprocated.
 

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