No messing, straight into "Drop Dead Gorgeous", and the crowd was a bouncing sea of arms and heads. The pace was maintained by "Kung Fu Movies", the anthemic football chant keeping the moshers down the front well happy. Current hit "From Rush Hour With Love" was greeted with whoops of recognition right from the first chord.

Saffron could do no wrong. She bounced around the stage like a mop-topped powerball. Her trademark red patch seems to be growing, very noticeable when she shook her hair, which was quite often. She posed and teased, stalking the stage and brushing the mass of outstretched hands. Her shouty, staccatto vocals were rabble-rousing enough to wind the audience into a frenzy. 90% of the crowd were singing along with "Get Off". I think the line "I want to get off with you" appealed to the predominantly male punters!

Then a guitar appeared in Saffron's hands. It's obvious that she's not been playing long, but it must take some bottle to get onstage at a packed Liquid Rooms and actually hit the strings. Still, trooper that she is, she lasted the song with style, and was rewarded with more cheers. Off with the guitar, on with the show, Saffron was unencumbered, and making the most of it. No wonder she is so slender, the energy she burns up during a gig must be worth a dozen gym workouts! The place got so hot, it was a relief when the air-conditioning kicked in.

"Ready To Go" went down a storm, hardly unexpected, but I was surprised they hadn't saved it, or "Rush Hour" or "Drop Dead Gorgeous", for the encore. The last song was one I didn't recognise, probably from the new album. It featured bombastic drums and really annoying keyboards. I think it was about a Hollywood serial killer.

The encore was a wild version of "Bitch", and another song, then Republica were gone, leaving a tired, sweaty, but definitely happy crowd. Nice one. FVH