Saturday 01/03/08 UNKLE @ Brixton Academy, London

UNKLE turned up at the Brixton Academy on Saturday night with an entourage of mouth-watering vocal talents and a set list spanning all fourteen of their glittering years to date. Opening with ‘Chemistry’, the scramble from bar to the floor was immense. The eerie synth that accompanies the first chapter of recent LP, ‘War Stories', slammed into action after half a minute and as the pounding drumbeat reverberated around the auditorium there was little doubt we were in for a storming set. The place duly went ****ing wild.

Unsurprisingly, Ian Brown drew the biggest cheer of the night and managed to look a mountain of a man atop the massive Academy stage. ‘Reign’ was a glaring set highlight and coupled with his return to the stage for ‘Be There’, the two tracks confirmed not only UNKLE’s dominance in this genre, but Brown’s individual brilliance. One of the greatest British front men of recent decades.

The delectable Leila Moss of Duke Spirit fame almost took Brown’s crown, however, with her appearance on ‘Mayday,’ a track possessing more punch Lennox Lewis cocktail, “These stars are Glistening / These stars are Listening” she sang. You’re not wrong. Mr Damon Gough himself Badly Drawn Boy ('Nursery Rhyme/Breather') and Gavin Clark (‘Keys To The Kingdom’, ‘Broken’) were also in tow and on tonight’s special occasion proved that they possess voices worthy of complete distinction.

Inevitably, a set that was all thriller and no filler was over in a flash, despite lasting over two hours. James Lavelle’s sheer ecstasy behind the decks was infectious from start to finish. This was his party and everybody showed up.