Elbow, at the Hop and Grape, Manchester

SOMETIMES you hear a band and know they are headed for big things.

From the opening bars of A Storm In Heaven, The Verve's future was mapped out. The first time you heard those spine tingling opening chords to Supersonic you just knew that Oasis had something special.

By the time Elbow were half way through the night's opening song Any Day Now, nobody in the room could deny that they have the potential to achieve the same status.

The rest of the set only reinforced this view. Guy Garvey's voice soars through the fantastic George Lassoes the Moon complete with keyboard chugging and swirling guitars. This is the sort of song that The Charlatans have been trying to write for years. The cheers of delight that greet the now almost classic Newborn is tempered only by the complete hush that meets the mellow songs of the set.

This is a band set to do great things if you get the chance see them now because you know it will be no fun watching them from the back at one of those oversized arena gigs.

MARK ASQUITH