It was a special night at Manchester's Albert Hall. Marking 10 years since the former Wesleyan church in the city centre was brought back to life as a music venue, a rare performance by Róisín Murphy on Wednesday (May 10) would always be a sell-out.
The Irish musician who was part of nineties pop duo Moloko is known for the outlandish outfits which feature throughout her performances. In fact, all accessories considered, the number of costume changes on the night totalled 10.
The disco diva moved to Manchester at the age of 12 and spent her teenage years in the city after insisting on staying when her parents split up and returned to Ireland. It was during this period that, she says, she started to identify as a 'weirdo'.
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What's striking about her performances now is that she is never scared of being too silly. The 49-year-old first appeared on stage in a turquoise dress with fin-like features, a smurf-style hat, big blue boots and long black gloves.
Almost all of the audience - including those sat surrounding the stage upstairs - rose to their feet as soon as the music began and remained standing throughout. The artist's music is varied, but almost all of it has a beat that anyone can dance to.
Surprisingly, some of her best known songs appeared towards the start of the set, including a remixed rendition of Moloko's Time Is Now. Wearing a purple cape with a silver helmet-style hat, a life-size alien was thrown around like a rag doll during Overpowered.
Latest single Coocool saw a purple top wrapped around the singer's chest, covering part of her dress which later disappeared. White trousers with long slits down each side appeared soon after Something More for which she wore an iconic black hat.
A pretty pink feather hat also featured in the fashion show. The singer hardly spoke to the audience throughout the two-hour performance, except to explain why she demanded her band stop one song and start again - a stance greeted with support.
But later in the show, dressed in a silver jumpsuit with an enormous collar, the singer communicated with the crowd through a camera. In an interactive version of Moloko's Sing It Back, the musician made the audience part of the performance on screen.
After Murphy's Law, Róisín reappeared draped in a rainbow gown. Proudly lifting its colours, it was unclear whether there was a political point behind the gesture by the artist whose last live performance in Manchester was when she headlined Homobloc.
Regardless, it was well received. One by one, the band left the stage before appearing on the screen while backstage.
Slowly, Róisín returned her five bandmates back onto the stage where she sat on a chair, flirting with the camera throughout. Saving her classiest outfit until last, the blue velvet-clad singer soon stood up and positioned herself at the centre of the group.
A three-song encore concluded with the band returning backstage where they just kept on playing. Róisín will play the Royal Albert Hall in London on Thursday (May 11) before returning to the North West for Bluedot Festival on Friday, July 21.
The hotly anticipated headline slot at Jodrell Bank is set to be special in its own way. But nothing beats the intimacy of the Albert Hall - a beautiful city centre venue which, in 10 years, has quite comfortably become one of Manchester's most loved.
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