Review: Ugly Duckling/The Austin Francis Connection, The Bodega, by Jane Renton

A glitter ball stirs listlessly over a stage full of old-skool hip hop kit. It is incongruous, like the support act. The Austin Francis Connection, are preppy-rap – prap?

They would be great for a 14 year olds birthday party. Then they would be edgy.

Ugly Duckling's Young Einstein (Rodney Pleasant Jr) appears. Sampling and scratching over a James Brown song, the crowd starts moving. This is better.

"One, two," he says.  It's just a sound check.

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Anticipation rises. Dizzy (Dustin McFarlane) and Andy Cat (Andy Cooper) appear. "Do you know how warm it is in California right now? It's 29 degrees back home right now," says Andy to a freezing crowd.

Nobody is wearing bikinis here. Which is a relief, because the crowd is 99 per cent male.

Their clearly devoted fans  - young, old, some from the nineties never stop grinning.

Eye on the Gold Chain is both hilarious and a masterclass for vinyl purists.

Ugly Duckling's enthusiasm is infectious. They know how to party as does audience member Glen – aka Con Theory, who freestyles onstage with them -  "we wanna know what you got!"

Give me UD downtown to Downton any day.