Local supports George however were unemcumbered by expectations, and played an inspired 30 minute set which should have many of the 4000 strong crowd seeking them out in the comfort of a smaller venue in the future. Vocalist Katie Noonan is blessed with one of the most unbelievably powerful voices I have ever encountered - when she let loose it was amazing, but when she really let loose during "Spawn" off their You Can Take What's Mine EP, you could just about sense the roof being lifted off the Entertainment Centre. With brother Tyrone's voice wrapping around Katie's, and occasionally taking the spotlight (to best effect on the lovely "Polyserena"), and a collection of tunes which married pop, jazz and prog rock with ease, George had the punters lapping up their every move - not even an early PA blowout could dampen their enthusiasm. To use a well-worn cliche, do yourself a favour!

If only "The Voice of the Moment" lived up to the mountain of hype that had preceded her. Sure, the 12-piece band were tight as the proverbial. Sure, all the hits were there, from the funkadelic (and admittedly red-hot) "Sex-o-matic Venus Freak", through to the epic ballad "Still" and the show-stopping finale of "I Try", complete with some staged improvisation and the obligatory sing-a-long from the crowd. But for me, the one thing missing was the one thing that Macy Gray allegedly possesses in oodles - soul.

From the contrived, street-tough banter to the choreographed swaying of the band (please!), everything was so meticulously planned the show was in danger of disappearing up it's own arsehole. It's all good and well for the songs to sound like they do on the album, but the whole production came across so slick that it bordered on sterile. Even Macy seemed dis-interested. She worked the crowd (if admonishing them for not screaming and dancing enough qualifies as 'working the crowd') and strutted and pranced about, but she seemed more interested in looking the part than actually participating - I'd go so far as to say her backing singers did more singing than the woman herself. In fact, the only time there was any animation on stage at all was when Macy departed mid-set and the band unleashed, with former Red Hot Chili Pepper Arik Marshall doing his best Hendrix impression and Macy's keyboard wielding brother ripping out some of the tastiest Moog sounds this side of Rick Wakeman.

But I was far from convinced. In fact, I was glad the show only went for an hour and twenty minutes. The Macy fanatics I went with were singing her praises the whole way home, but me.....I'm still kicking myself for not seeing Royal Crown Revue instead.