Orson- 100 Club, London – 14 February 2006

Hollywood soft rock band Orson were milking the fact it was Valentines night in the intimate 200-capacity 100 Club. Bassist Jonny Bentjen had flowers ‘from his girl’ rested on his amp and singer Jason Pebworth dedicated their songs ‘to the ladies’, who were mainly in their late 20s and dancing at the front of the crowd

Velvet jacket-wearing Pebworth, had sweat pouring from under his trilby as he tried desperately to maintain his cool jazz image.

A female fan told me how she thought they sounded somewhere between The Killers and Duran Duran. Sadly, they were far from being as exciting as either of these bands - the bulk of the set, particularly the piano-led numbers, was like listening to a lacklustre version of Maroon 5.

Their cover of Hall and Oates’ classic I Can’t Go For That was the highlight, Pebworth showing a strong vocal range.

The band got the best reception of the night for their catchy Radio 1 A-list single No Tomorrow, which is about breaking up with a girl - rather inappropriate for Valentines. Adolescent boys with striped shirts and floppy hair pushed through to the front and try it on with the ladies. But they weren’t interest - Orson was their only date for the evening.