Side projects are funny things - usually a vanity outlet for a frustrated musician who feels that their day job doesn't allow them to convey all the wonderful things that they have going on in their head, it can often lead to underwhelming results. So what to make of Dead Weather, a side project of a side project if you will? Well, Jack White is a truly gifted man for sure, and it's easy to believe that he really does have that many untapped ideas going through his head, so maybe he gets a pass here...

Horehound, the Dead Weather album, is a bit of a strange beast (pun intended) - filled with driving, dirty blues rock, it's a an album that many people have described as 'very good but I could only listen to it once or twice'. It certainly doesn't seem to have the broad appeal of a White Stripes or even a Raconteurs album. There are great songs on there, sure, but no 'Seven Nation Army' or 'Steady As She Goes' to latch on to.

Live, however, is where the Dead Weather shine. Having seen their 'surprise' set at Glastonbury's 'Park Stage' this year, it was hard to tell just how well they come across onstage, hampered by a mid afternoon slot and a setlist of tracks that nobody had heard before. At a packed Brixton it all makes sense, with the darkness suited to Alison Mosshart's writhing rock posturings and White's drumming / dancing / Guitar playing / shrieking. This is garage rock reborn for the big stage, and songs like '60 Feet Tall' and 'Hang You From The Heavens' fill the venue effortlessly. They run through their entire debut album, peppering the set with covers (Pentagram, Them) with White swapping instruments and pacing the stage with a deranged glee, but it's not just the Jack and Alison show, with QOTSA's Dean Fertita and two time collaborator Jack Lawrence creating a cacophony of their own.

Fittingly the best is kept for last with the unnaturally funky 'Cut Like A Buffalo' and 'Treat Me Like Your Mother' getting the biggest reception of the night and then we're done, sent home to ponder what we'll see Jack White doing next. My money's on that Welsh dubstep album...