The gig started badly with some of the band tripping on to the stage.

It got better when they spelled out the band name with newspaper letters, bananas and pitta bread; a cunning ploy to give the crowd energy for jumping maybe? All this before it started.

If you've only heard The Hoosiers on the radio, they are an all-male three piece. However, there was a serious looking girl on keys for this gig.

The drummer looks like Borat's lighter-haired drumming brother and the lead singer's mannerisms are similar to an enthusiastic Jack Russell dog.

The bassist is quite normal looking and was the proud player of a multitude of percussion instruments.

Flanking the band were two Honey Monster-esque fur constructions with DVD screen animations as faces - which served no purpose except to give the crowd something to watch during the support acts, Grace and Naomi Roper. Grace's has done well to get on tour with The Hoosiers - although there did seem to be a bit of animosity from The Hoosier's lead singer, Irwin. But the crowd seemed happy with both supports and failed to be sucked in by the scathing comments and tour politics bubbling away.

The Hoosiers played a short but sweet set of seven songs, all taken from their debut album released that day, The Trick to Life - which the lead singer unashamedly plugged throughout the gig.

The young crowd joined in with the band-led clapping and singing during Cops and Robbers and there were singalongs during the two singles, Goodbye Mr A - which in parts sounds like a cross between circus music and a haunted house theme - and Worried About Ray.

The encore which was introduced with a white lie by Irwin, who claimed they'd run out of their own songs. It was in fact Andrew Gold's Lonely Boy which they seem happy to play at all their gigs.

But that was it. The gig was fun, straightforward, and didn't require analysis or thought. On a Monday night that's no bad thing.

by ERICA BINGLEY