Once again, Mansun return to Portsmouth for another intimate set at the Wedgewood Rooms.  Over the years, many established acts have used this small venue for festival warm-up gigs or, as in this case, a chance to test out new material.

Rather than give the sold out crowd a set of greatest hits, Mansun choose to devote over half the set to brand new tracks - and it works.  Almost two years after their most recent release, the band appear to have gone dark on us: the new songs sound moodier and more menacing than anything on the last album 'Little Kix' - from which they play no tunes.  The audience take to the set well, and we are duly awarded with a small selection of classics: 'Legacy', 'Being A Girl', 'The Chad Who Loved Me' with its lavish John Barry styled introduction, and of course the obligatory 'Wide Open Space' (have they every done a gig without it?).

As is customary with Mansun performances, the sequencers, samplers and synthesizers that feature so prominently on the recordings are dropped, leaving just a traditional rock band.  How much tonight's freshly premiered compositions will change during the recording process remains to be seen.  FIt takes a lot of confidence sticking almost exclusively to previously unheard material, but sound problems aside (the left hand speaker stack became intermittent towards the end of the gig) Mansun impress, and still feel current and relevant in 2002.

Review: Andrew Morrison