Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

First things first, if there's a smoking ban, no one's told the guy in charge of the smoke machine on stage. Still, that and the blood red lights only add to the effect that these guys have just stepped out of hell, bringing with them the dripping raw bluesy rock and roll that the devil tried to keep for himself.

Indeed their opening track could be one of Old Nick's romantic ballads with its addictive licks and riffs, and talking about "full body lovers", suggestive oohs and a dark hint that "suicide's easy". I never imagined 'Berlin' would be like that, but I'll take a trip there. ΜύBy this point it's obvious that this is a proper rock and roll band - they look like one, sound like one and would probably be run out of town due to the dangerous air of menace hanging round them. 'Weapon of Choice', lead single of their most recent album, continues the onslaught before gong back to their second album for oldie 'Stop.'

You see, it's the demonic wailing that makes them work. ΜύBoth from their guitars and their mouths. Apt as the song is '666 Conducer' - the devil marks his own. ΜύThis has an almost country vibe - though don't let that put you off, for as James Brown once said, "country is the white man's blues." Then, it's back to the past for favourite "Spread Your Love", a gloriously stompy piece of rock that slaps you around and tells you that you loved it. The guys crowd surfing certainly did.

And then they break it down. ΜύStripped acoustics take over, with a wonderful Dylan cover, and their own 'Fault Line' and 'Devil's Waitin', vocal and guitar duties being switched between Hayes and Been. And then it continues, and that's the one part that doesn't work, for the casual fan anyway, as the slower section continues on a little too long. But that's nitpicking, as they return to the heavier stuff with 'Need Some Air' and 'American X', the latter featuring Been wielding his bass more like a rifle than an instrument as though he wants to shoot us all. Except maybe the chap on the balcony who has been getting into the whole gig uber-enthusiastically.

The main part of the show ends with a wicked one-two of 'Six Barrel Shotgun' and 'Whatever Happened To My Rock n Roll.' Both big battering rams, both given to us with all six barrels, the latter being introduced in one of the few bits of interaction between band and crowd - no need for begging crowd pleasing histrionics here, the music does that. The encore is huge and rock and roll, beginning with 'Took Out A Loan' and ending with 'Heart And Soul', leaving us to stumble out slightly weary but more than slightly happy.

William Johnston