SCISSOR SISTERS: Live at Northampton Soundhaus. 03/02/04

I'll be honest. I had no idea what to expect from this group. I was scared, excited and a little bit anxious faced with the prospect of coming face to face with singer, Jake Shears. Note to self: "Don't make eye contact on any account" -(have you SEEN this bloke's eyes?). Besides this, the New York group have also obliterated Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", throwing in a Stevie Nicks guitar riff to add insult to injury. One thing I did know: this band is brutal. Why do they get away with it? Because it's fun. I love them. Their blazing live performance justified this.

And a good time was had by all. From the moment, the glimpse of fur at the side of the stage revealed that tonights show would also feature a faux fox skin (modelled by previously mentioned Jake), the audience were too scared not to obey the bands every command. I had not reckoned on the equally as frightening and pouting singer, Ana Matronic, whose obvious sexuality no doubt tantalised every man in the room and made every woman want to be her. Yes, no point taking your granny to see this band. It may well kill her.

Thankfully there were no such glitches. From the blistering disco scorcher of "Filthy and Gorgeous" and the Elton John-esque "Music is the Victim" to crowd favourite "Take your mama out" and retro laidback debut single "Laura", the crowd had a collective smile on their face throughout, although some showed their love in different ways (I am still recovering from the shock of the streaker who revealed himself on stage). Bras were flying off, pants were swung round heads, and for possibly the first time, Northampton got hot, sweaty and steamy. It turns out that what you can expect from seeing Scissor Sisters live is a night where no-one takes themselves too seriously and anyone who wasn't there missed out greatly. If walls could talk…

Anna Claxton