Erasure's most outrageous and OTT concert ever got under

way the other week in Manchester and proved to be a real eye-opener.

"Remember where you are tonight", said Andy, grinning wildly,

"because by the end of this you're not going to know where you are!",

and how right he was. Revelling in the grandness of it all, Andy strode

about the stage in the most outrageous costumes you'll ever see,

starting the evening in silver sequinned trousers and ending it in his

dressing gown!. In between, he wore a full length blue evening dress,

a huge navy blue puffy skirt with a painted map of the World and a

couple of underpant singlets that defied logic. During an half-hour

ABBA sequence, Vince nearly fell over and broke his leg after his

platform shoes and nasty flared jeans conspired to trick his ankles.

In the background, a team of suspender-clad dancers strutted and

pouted excitedly beneath an ever changing array of epic scenery backdrops,

taking in scenes from the American mid-west to Broadway.

After the intermission, Andy and Vince strode on stage in old-fashioned

music hall suits and held a full scale bingo session, the winner recieving

a rather fetching teddy bear. Eventually, all the excitement had to end

and it was time for bed. But not before Andy and Vince came back

for one last song, just the two of them sitting on the floor, Andy

singing serenely along to Vince's plinky plonky keyboard. It was a

fittingly calm end to one of the most exciting and flamboyent live

shows you'll see anywhere this year.