Downstairs at Rock City is a close fitting place , the crowd enlivened by (X) Is Greater Than (Y)'s climax are still bubbling when Katie Jane Garside's crew, Queen Adreena take to the stage.
With Garside wearing flowers in her wild hair and little else besides her Kinder Whore roots have been fashioned into something more Ophelia post-mortem or Woman in White than drug addled little girl.
She is well aware there's nothing prettier than a pretty girl digging a heart shaped hole and in the opening a cappella rendition of "A Heavenly Surrender" Garside sets her vocal spade deep. The band brutally up the ante with " Kitty Collar Tight" and "Coldfish", two songs which rock the house, Katie Jane proving that, tonight at least, great vocals come in small packages.
The band's set is water tight, and whilst Garside is bewitching, her long term songwriting partner guitarist Crispin Gray and his freight train rhythm section hold their own with the strength of material from their latest album "Drink Me"(Rough Trade) in good evidence.
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The Murder Ballads and nursery hate anthems handle lyrical territory previously scouted by Hole and Nick Cave but add a touch of glam and dexterity which makes them formidable without ever being terrifying. It's a delicate balance played to perfection by Garside as she wraps her mic three times round her neck moving like something ecstatic and possessed. By the end of their final number it's obvious Queen Adreena have the devils own tunes in abundance. And we've sold our souls to Katie Jane.
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