I was so pleased that Puressence had released their second album, “Only Forever” earlier in the year as it meant they were back on the road – and I really couldn’t get enough of them live. I’d managed to see them a couple of times back in 1996, and once in May 1998 when they hit the road fresh from their album launch, and they were circling back through London again, this time playing the LA2 (also known as the Astoria 2).

They were supported by The Dandys, a Leeds Indie/Britpop band who had just released their debut (and only) album over the summer of 1998 on the back of three singles that had made it to the #77, #71 and #57 in the charts respectively. They were very much of the Britpop sound, and might have done better had they been around a few years earlier but by the summer of 98 Britpop was really already on the decline and their sound was pretty generic of the scene. I enjoyed them, but they unfortunately wouldn’t stand out when thrown in to a playlist of other britpop tracks.

Puressence on the other hand stood miles above most of the ‘Britpop’ scene and I (as mentioned before when talking about them) will never understand why they weren’t more successful over here than they were. They were brilliant live, and their albums (especially their self-titled debut) are stunning albums.