Viking Skull - Barfly - Friday 25th January 2008

What a night this turned out to be.. Not just at this gig but at venue 2 and Scruffy Murphy's after that - total metal mayhem!

Sweet Seduction. Thanks to the drummer for the setlist! Great start to the evening played sleaze with considerable skill and aggression. Tight musically, my only criticism would be the slightly thin drum sound. Standout of the set for me was a bizarre but well-executed cover of Blondie's "Call Me" (trust me although it sounds odd it works!); of their original material the closer "One Hell Of A Night" with its sing-a-long section worked well, with "System", "Black Leather", "Insane" and "Bloodshot" completing their set. Not my usual taste but I can see these guys doing well. Tip for the ladies... if you like your rock bands to have great hair definitely check them out - as a member of the folically-challenged club their impressive manes caused huge envy!!

Year Long Disaster. Setlist this time was liberated by my gig-buddy Bill - cheers fella!! You may well know my reservations about bands having connections with failure in their name - a generalisation shattered by these guys. Let's namecheck the band first; guitar/vocals Daniel Davies, bass Richard Mullins and drums Brad Hargreaves - I'm doing this because these are three immensely talented musicians who deserve to conquer all before them in 2008. Had a chat with Daniel shortly after their set and found him to be a quiet, unassuming chap who was genuinely thrilled by my enthusiastic noises - complete alter-ego to his on-stage confidence. Stunning set; "Desperate", "Galea", new single "Per (Qualche Dollaro In Piu)", Destination", "Teeth", "Sapphire", "Leda Atomica" and closer "Swan" all oozed quality. Staggering musicians they reminded me of a hybrid of The White Stripes, Wolfmother and Nebula - very fluid complex songs made to look effortless. If there is any justice they will be huge; I will be monitoring their progress closely and can't wait to see them again when they next visit these shores.

Viking Skull. Tough act to follow; would they be up to the challenge? Oh ye of little faith... Great fun throughout, quality musicians especially the lead guitarist who can shred with the best. Bill again managed to get the setlist; opening with "Born In Hell" has always got to be a good start! The set then progressed through a good mix of old and new and was delivered with a huge sense of swagger and fun. For those of a "statto" persuasion the rest of the set was "Blackened," "Beer Drugs & Bitches," "The Coming Plague," "Frostbite," "Unholy Ground," "Red Hot Woman," "Crank The Volume," "King Of Kings," "Skull Heaven," and "You Can't Kill Rock And Roll" for an understated finale(?!): listed on their setlist as "Big Ending/Grinder" it included an almost Rammstein-esque sparks shower courtesy on an angle-grinder and the scatchplate/strings of Roddy's guitar! Great way to finish a quality evening.

Band of the night award shared by Year Long Disaster and Viking Skull; really can't separate them. Delighted to have found a new band who I believe can be huge; best wishes to Year Long Disaster for a long and successful career.

The night didn't end there though... next port of call was The Black Horse. Arrived just in time to see I Am Colossus who again played a belter of a set - good to catch up with Chris, Daz and Poon from the band as well as Andy from Slab, Nick and Greg from I Hate You More (debut album getting closer!) and to meet Jay and the drummer from Hellfire. A flying visit to Scruffy's concluded the evening.

Great night all round - focusing specifically on the Barfly part of the evening what a gig! Three quality bands for £7.50 - how can you fault that? Begs the question why the club was still so empty - are rock fans shying away from small gigs? If you are you are missing a treat.