JON WELCH UEA LCR

JON WELCH

> UEA LCR

If anyone doubted Super Furry Animals are still the most inventive and original band in Britain, last night's UEA gig might just have convinced them.

The band's arrival on stage was heralded by live video pictures of them driving across the UEA campus towards the venue on a golf buggy, wearing matching hooded suits, glowing green under the ultraviolet light.

When they finally crashed the buggy on to the stage it was to the strains of the A-Team theme tune.

Playing their first night of a nationwide tour, the Super Furries were show-casing their latest album, Love Kraft.

They opened with the album's first four tracks in order: Zoom!, Atomik Lust, The Horn and the standout Ohio Heat with its singalong chorus.

The band's latest material, although excellent, is perhaps less immediate than some of their older tunes. Slow Life, with its burbling synths, was the first tune to get the crowd dancing.

Other favourites including Something 4 the Weekend, Ice Hockey Hair and Do or Die were rapturously received.

In Gruff Rhys, the Super Furries have a charismatic frontman, never afraid to have a laugh by munching celery between songs or donning an alien helmet.

May these Super Furry Animals never grow tame.