Beth Ditto is certainly a character. It takes a particular someone to go up on stage and tell their adoring audience how sweaty her minky is. This is just one in a long line of announcements that Ditto reels off tonight as she demonstrate perfectly how a front person should charm a crowd. She is simply hilarious. She walks onstage in a bin-liner which is soon discarded to reveal a skin-tight, ultramarine leotard. She takes a further costume change due to her sweaty bits. The Gossip are certainly a band not to miss, and I haven’t even mentioned the music yet.

The Gossip have been hyped to the max this year. With the stomper ‘Standing in the Way of Control’ molesting Radio 1 and hit Channel 4 drama Skins (the cast of which are here tonight), The Gossip are certainly set for new heights. However, there has to be more than one good song, and their latest album is a little thin on that ground. It’s a sad fact that ‘Standing in the Way of Control’ is the only stand-out track on that album, but tonight the band manage to breath life into the rest of the album.

The Gossip are fantastic live: Ditto’s voice is capable of leaving people speechless and Nathan Howdeshell’s deft guitar skills must leave Jack White a little green, it’s outstanding that so much noise comes out of a three piece!

The album may be lacking somewhat, but in a live setting The Gossip are faultless, sweaty minkies and all.
(4/5)