Despite looking like your mates’ dodgy sixth form band that you have to pretend to like, Caretaker deliver the first surprise of the night. Never judge a book by its cover, right? Harvey Goodchild’s vocals are sometimes a little ropy, but at his best he sounds like Mudhoney’s Mark Arm. Vocals are kept to a minimum tonight, though, as Caretaker have huge instrumental breaks that stretch out into Sonic Youth-style wig outs. Admittedly there is a certain amount of that infuriating loud-quiet template being applied, but at least Caretaker do it well. Give them some stuff to break, and we might have a version of …And You Shall Know Us By The Trail of Dead to call our own.

Sludgefeast on record sound not unlike Rocket From The Crypt. Live they look, well, fresh from the crypt. Dressed in the very height of rock mullet glam fashion, right down to the perma-shades worn Blues Brothers tribute band-style, they blaze through an oddly entertaining set. Why it’s entertaining is hard to say really. Partly it’s because it’s funny watching them living out their rock’n’roll dreams in such committed fashion, but also because they’re rather good at what they do. James Barnard’s between-song spiel is ridiculous, “Hey honey, are you a Rock and Roll Whore?”, he asks bassist Corin Duff. “No baby I’m a Rock and Roll Bitch”, she replies. This serves as the intro to the obviously titled `Rock and Roll Bitch’. Every song, not surprisingly, is called Rock and Roll something. Sludgefeast are tackier than a Christmas cracker toy, and have the same entertainment value. Great fun for fifteen minutes.

An emo-core band from Essex, Union Kid are treading the same path as US bands such as Samiam or Gameface, but for some reason seem to be missing the point. To trigger some kind of reaction would be an idea, guys. They are the Richard Whitely of Rock. At least Whitely wears amusing ties. If Union Kid were corpses you couldn’t identify them; they have no discernible features. There are no hooks, no great guitar lines, nothing. Union Kid simply leave you feeling…………..sorry.

Allin Pratt