Hopefully not the last of those super Shadow Puppets

It feels like we need to enjoy The Last Shadow Puppets while they're here. Given their form, the respective members of this supergroup will soon be back with their own individual projects and, no doubt, leaving us waiting years for more.

That added a little added spice to their gig at De Montfort Hall on Tuesday night. Not only did we get to see a class act at the top of its game - but also a class act that so rarely comes out to play.

It feels like a second album is a good time to see any band. By then, not only does it have a bank of songs to fill a good set and confidence in its own performances, but it isn't too far removed from those joyous first hits that attracted you in the first place.

So it proved with The Last Shadow Puppets. The mix of the more retro songs from The Age Of The Understatement and the newer material from Everything You've Come To Expect made for a set that rattled along at a real pace.

The band's key players - Alex Turner and Miles Kane - offer up contrasting performances. Kane is the solid, serious musician, with the heavy lifting on the guitar. Turner slips into the frontman routine and, once he got into it, belted out the hits in some style.

There was little interaction with the audience - they just got on with delivering the goods - but Turner did make me chuckle by feigning to praise the city's football team before actually bigging up Kane. If it's possible to hear a glint in the eye then this was it.

The title song from the new album was one real highlight, as was The Dream Synopsis. Yet the surprise for me was Sweet Dreams TN, a song that was really lifted by a brilliant live performance. I'll certainly appreciate it more in future now. In fact the whole of the second album crackled with a real energy and came across well proving the group is no one album wonder.

Meeting Place brought the curtain down in typically class fashion, with a slick and memorable parting shot to round off a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

They didn't perform the excellent Pattern from the new album or Separate and Ever Deadly from the first album, but then that's The Last Shadow Puppets all over isn't it? Always leaving you wanting even more.

I do hope there'll be more from the group. It'll be worth the wait, no matter how long it is this time.

A first listen of The Last Shadow Puppets Everything You've Come To Expect

Everything You've Come To Expect is a bold choice of title. Over the last eight years The Last Shadow Puppets' superb The Age of the Understatement has become one of my favourite albums. It was a short, sweet burst of something very different and left me tantalised by the prospect of more. So, after all this time, could it really deliver everything I'd come to expect?

We plumped for the vinyl (yep, we're cool) and gave it a burst. Within seconds, Aviation feels like the return of an old friend, encapsulating that sound of the first album. It's hard to define the mix of the vocals, lyrics, top class arrangements and distinctly retro sound that make up The Last Shadow Puppets' appeal. It's like the sort of music your dad might have made you listen to but slicker and, well, better. Will that do?

From there we veer off towards the Arctic Monkeys end of the band's spectrum, tapping into the slower more mellow sound that Alex Turner's vehicle has displayed in recent years. While, as an Arctic Monkeys fan, I enjoyed Miracle Aligner and Dracula Teeth the band's best bits come when songs neither Monkeys nor Miles Kane. In The Element Of Surprise and Bad Habits - a decent single - we're back there.

On the second side (it's a vinyl thing kids...) little stood out on first listen. The orchestral 60s arrangements of the first album were less in evidence and only Pattern really grabbed me by the ears and said 'listen again'. This is, of course, a little harsh on first listen and I'm sure there'll be rich rewards from popping the needle on again. The first album certainly rewards the listener on repeated sittings.

So, first thoughts? Not as good as the first album but that was unlikely. A fresh, new collection of work from a talented group that stands out from the crowd? Certainly.

While it wasn't everything I'd come to expect, only time will tell just how much it fulfils my hopes...