I have never been to a gig before where the entire crowd put their fingers in their ears at exactly the same time. Tonight was an exception. Fixit Kid started off the night with a hell of a racket reminiscent of early Big Black with the addition of vocal screams that couldn’t be deciphered but worked a treat. At the very end of the set Fixit Kid cut their intense onslaught sound down to a few seconds of minimal fondling and then finished with one final slab of noise. And fingers eerily stuffed into ears in a state of sonic shock. With a few more holes and spaces within their material this band could go far.

The Steve Albini influence was confirmed soon after with Big Black’s Bad Penny being slapped straight onto the turntable while Reynolds set up for what they said would be their last gig Upstairs at the Garage. I’ve heard it all before, they’ll be back… And why not? Minus a singer this time, Reynolds and their matching guitars stomped through an instrumental set of old tracks including old time favourite Humble Pie from their Field Recordings LP as well as new and even more improved tracks from their forthcoming album. Nothing short of pure genius!

Part Chimp (featuring ex-members of Ligament) round up the evening’s entertainment with a more furious collection of songs to lurch to. After walking on stage and looking quite restrained, the drummer exploded into a beast of arms and sticks. With a fair topping of solid chunky guitars and yet more undecipherable lyrics, I found myself up the front with one almighty grin on my face. Damn fine live band and damn fine night all round.