And it feels better than...

Tonight we saw Hurts at the Manchester Academy 3. They were very, very good. We had a chance to talk to the band outside before the gig. They were very, very normal. They liked the t-shirt this author wore - it was in the fact the same t-shirt this author had worn to the gym earlier and not bothered to change. Noice. On stage, the melodramatic facial contortions and the ethereal gesticulating all came out in force. That's what popstars do!

They played a good ten-song setlist, not bad for a band who have succeeded in leaking very few songs. The music was colourful, consuming and extremely enjoyable - we look forward to hearing many of the played tracks in their studio versions soon. The band was comprised of an organ, a synthesiser, your standard drums and an impeccably dressed single male back up singer, who looked in the region of around his early 50s. Unusual. It worked.

Of course "Better Than Love" was the highlight. It was a pleasure to see the following the band had gained in such a small space of time. The aesthetics were wonderful, we've mentioned how fabulous the music was; could this be the first all-male band we really go for? There were many older attendants in the audience. They may be co-workers dragged along by mothers of band members - they are a Manchester band - or they might just be old people who visit Pop Justice. We can't really remember the full setlist, they played many a song we hadn't heard before, but it was good. Trust.