One thing’s for sure and that is that the Barfly is positively rammed tonight. A raucous cheer greets Flood of Red as they hit the stage, and commence their energetic albeit predictable set. They?re a clearly capable band, but they seem almost unnecessary today, when you consider the two following acts are much, much more accomplished.

Ghost of a Thousand are always one hell of a lot of fun to watch. Their unprecedented recent rise in fame is down to the fact that they put on shows like they do here tonight, vicious, aggressive and user-unfriendly affairs. Frontman Tom Lacey is a delight to watch bounding back and forth, climbing the occasional speaker and hurling himself crowdwards, without any care for his, or their safety. Set highlight ?New Toy? gets the two hundred sweaty audience members clap-clapping in unison, which is quite a feat for a show of this calibre.

After a frustratingly long wait, chants of ?Zico! Zico!? fade into obscurity as our headliners take their grimey, sexy and modern perception of rock ?n roll to the stage. ?Pretty Pictures? is beautifully visceral, while new single ?Anaemia? keeps the crowd singing for its entire duration. It?s only a shame we don?t have more hard rock bands in the UK scene that are this refreshing and this tight on stage.

Andy R

Screeching on stage are the grungy looking teens that are ?98 Pages?. Considering how many bands are sounding fairly similar at the minute, it?s quite refreshing to hear a band that seems to have spent approximately the past 18 years being spoon-fed on old-school Rock ?n? Roll. One song in and they?re already showing signs of promise and receive a round of applause from the friendly gathering they appear to have brought with them. Some seriously impressive guitaring with hints of Guns ?n? Roses, but with the husky Indie vocals of The Subways. Song, ?Days of June? shows a softer side and with variation and skill, they?re pretty good fun. (7)

The following kids band, ?Bad Shots Reunion?, are less fun. So much so, that I took advantage of the ?complementary ear plugs? from the bar. They?re loud and punk and if they could have refrained from mounting every speaker and jumping over the barriers like it was some kind of assault course, wrapping themselves up in cable and chatting absolute crap down the microphone every two minutes, then maybe that would have helped. It?s bad punk/screamo that?s offensive at best. (3)

Finally, it?s The Zico Chain boys, a trio of attractive twenty-somethings that actually manage to make black skinny jeans look rock. Curiously enough, despite them having just done SXSW Festival in America, Get In The Ring, Give It A Name and secured a Main Stage slot at this years Download Festival, they?re back here, about 6 months later, in the same venue, to only a couple dozen more people. Unhindered by the turn-out, frontman Chris not so subtly beckons people to the front with ?You better be fucking coming forwards!? to which the seemingly nonchalant, sparse crowd speed to the front, hold on to the railings and mosh to the quite literally brilliant, rock anthem ?Rohypnol?. The phone cameras are out! ?Social Suicide? is received brilliantly from the announcement alone and has more hair flailing around the room. ?You guys seem to have the mini album or something?? modestly jokes the gravelly vocalist. The band?s impressive ability to make even a crowd as tragic as tonight?s rock out mid-week, contributes to the respect they deserve. The performance is consistently thrilling with influences from bands such as Motorhead, The Bronx, Marilyn Manson, Queens of the Stone Age and so on, and in the words of Rock Sound ?Big things beckon? not least for being a modern punk band with balls?. With an impressive CV, a quality performance and a couple of members in the crowd having been attending their shows for a year and a half now, I only hope their Summer album release can be put on ?pre-order?. Well worth the rock. (8)

Carolyn