I’ve been a big fan of The Correspondents since I first discovered them at Secret Garden Party a few years ago so I could not wait to see them again at one of my all time favourite Brighton venues – The Concorde 2. Luckily I managed to catch the support band ‘Almighty Planets’ – a ten-piece hip-hop/funk band. Like The Correspondents they too are natural performers, it’s not often you find your eyes transfixed to the stage in admiration whilst wildly tapping your feet to a support act you’ve never heard before.

The Almighty Planets were extremely tight, both audibly and visually. It was obvious that a lot of time had been spent choreographing each movement and band interaction until the stage show was just perfect. I highly recommend you get down to see these guys play before they become huge. You might think a loud and enthusiastically energetic ten-piece band like Almighty Planets might be a tough act to follow for a duo – but if you’ve had the pleasure of seeing The Correspondents before you know that this is no problem for Mr. Bruce and DJ Chucks.

Mr.Bruce took to the stage wearing a considerably more toned-down outfit than I’ve seen him wear at previous gigs, a long black coat with a large white circle on the chest (which is featured in the artwork on their latest release) and he seemed to be a lot less physically ambitious than usual.  I started to feel a little let down and apologised to my friend who I’d dragged along after claiming Mr Bruce to be ‘the best performer you’ll ever see’. All of this changed a few songs later, The Correspondents introduced one of my favourite tracks ‘What’s Happened To Soho’ which had the entire audience singing along and jumping in unison. Towards the end of the song Mr Bruce disappeared abruptly to much confusion, leaving the audience a bit bewildered. Less than a minute later he exploded back onto the stage performing wild dance moves and, having made a complete costume change, he was back in his usual whacky and extraordinary attire. The gig had fully started and Mr Bruce managed to keep up the momentum for the remainder of the gig.

Unfortunately I found that the material from their new album ‘Puppet Loosely Strung’ didn’t come across live as well as their older stuff – I assume this is because they are not as familiar with performing these tracks live. When it comes to their old ones The Correspondents thrive on cleverly constructed performances that, by now, they could do with their eyes closed! I admire Mr Bruce’s ability to switch between an alter-ego character who is able to command the entire stage, mesmerising the audience with his every movement in an almost arrogant and supercilious manner and an incredibly polite, sincere, humble and funny gentleman who emerges as soon as a song is finished.

One of my favourite moments of the night was during The Correspondents remix of Julie London’s ‘Cry Me a River’. Mr Bruce politely inquired as to whether we would mind if he crowd-surfed as it is a Correspondents tradition, of course this suggestion made the crowd go wild! After taking this is a sign of acceptance Mr Bruce patiently waited, counting us down to a big drum'n'bass drop before elegantly leaping into the crowd with microphone in hand. He managed to continue to beatbox as he was carried to the back of the venue and then all the way to the front again.

This was by far one of the best Correspondents gigs I’ve ever seen. Whatever you do this year you should buy tickets to see The Correspondents live regardless of whether it’s your sort of music, as The Correspondents' visual performance is sure to be like nothing else you’ll see in your life. Puppet Loosely Strung is out now and BrightonsFinest highly recommends you get yourself a copy!