I have a ticket for A&J in Manchester next month. Has anyone on here seem him live? What was it like? Does his voice reach the beauty of the albums? Does he have brass and string sections? Can I expect to be the only one in the crowd without a serious gender crisis?

It was ok. My favorite record of '05 (it's edged above Spoon again), but my least favorite performance so far. I posted about it here:

http://forums.metacritic.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9171021/m/7220019252/p/3

Mildly disappointed, though his voice is mesmerising. I expected him to be shy but he was too relaxed if anything, joking with the crowd actually during some songs and even stopping to belch at one point. I don't think his band were too happy. I expect that from Pete Doherty but not Antony Hegarty.

I was disappointed with no percussion, so Fistful of Love was not on the set. Good covers of Nico and Leornard Cohen. First time I'd heard The Lake. Great track, but difficult to get over here.

I'll skip him next time he's over here.

I recall a Nico cover, but not Cohen. Overall, I was really disappointed, too.

There is an interesting interview with Antony at Rockbeatstone Magazine.

Let me know what you think.