This being my first foray into the land of Jerry-Built, I was impressed with what I heard. Ultra melodic, two singers feeding off each other, slightly vicious sounding guitars … I like it. There’s also evidence of a large fanbase who fill up the room nicely, which I’m not gonna argue with. I wasn’t going to mention the Get-Up Kids, as they are so lazily brought up with every melodic (dare I say ‘emo’) band at the moment, but when the keyboards come in … darn it I can’t help myself. They even use the same keyboard sound – you know the ‘yeee!!’ buzzy GUK trademark? No? Well I’m not so hot at describing it, but if you’ve heard a GUK song you’ll know what I’m talking about. When they kick in (the keyboard melodies that is) you find yourself cringing, but then also wondering why such a good band are willingly shooting themselves in the foot. The parts aren’t even worthy of such annoyance, or perhaps I’m wrong and they simply don’t translate well through the (putting it lightly) muddy PA. Either way, it needs to be sorted out, and soon before this comparison overshadows their knack of crafting beautiful little ditties.

After all that frustration, rather good German post-hardcore-experimental types Losone hit the stage, again, blessed with dodgy equipment that prevents the singer from actually singing on numerous occasions. They come across as a slightly more shambolic (and European) version of Red Animal War, but not as traditionally song-orientated. Coming across as a more aggressive Cross My Heart, their erratic and slightly meandering melodies lure you in a most attractive manner. A band that will hopefully come see us again soon.

Douglas think they are the headlining band tonight. Fact. Perhaps I’m just bitter because due to them, Red Animal War have a criminally short set, or maybe it’s because they simply don’t rock my boat, but whatever the case, I have a problem with their singer. ‘Ironic’ posing (x a lot), dancing around, lurching onto the dance floor, hitting photographers; all well and good. But where are the songs, I hear you cry! That’s a good question, and I think they got lost somewhere along the route to him becoming the next Ian Watkins, that’s where. The rest of the band provide an excellent back-drop to what could be an awesome bouncy melodic punk band, but the vocals really let the whole shebang down. Thanks to support (slots) from the hefty Hundred Reasons, Douglas have amassed quite a lot of tonight’s crowd, but you’re left wondering whether this has already gone to their heads.

Red Animal War are stunning. Even through the only PA system I’ve ever had nasty thoughts about, this is painstakingly clear. As soon as everyone’s happily onstage and the numerous Douglas set lists littering the stage are crumpled and thrown away, RAW erupt into epic opener from Breaking In An Angel, ‘Weak Bones May Break’.

‘Judas must have kissed his head!!’

It feels good. It feels great, like an itch you’ve been meaning to scratch all week. Like they’ve invaded your bloodstream somehow managing to overcome the white blood cells, and suddenly your veins are tapping along to the sound of ‘Anthem’. Red Animal War are one of those essential bands, that once you’ve heard them, you need them to get through your everyday life. And live, you savour each moment as if it were your last drop of water.

Unlike the other bands seen tonight, they do not care for posturing or actually conversing with the crowd too much, apart from to thank us. They simply wow us with their musical prowess. It’s all about the songs (at last), and you get the feeling they’re cramming in as many as possible. So as well as beauties off the album like ‘Dark Country’ and ‘Hope’ we get one off the split with Sand Which Is; ‘Did You See it in the Sky' and songs from the forthcoming album. These songs see Red Animal War develop their melody-ridden rock further, with sections of spoken word and although they sound really good, you get the impression there are parts that simply cannot be expressed through the traditional band set-up. They need more, much more. This isn’t a bad thing; we’ll just need to wait a little while.

What really comes across live is RAW's urgency, and utter efficiency at creating dynamics akin to riding the crest of a wave. You’re blown away. Because of the lack of a flute player or female vocalist, they cannot express the extent of their atmospheric yet wandering preciseness, which is a shame for those new to Red Animal War tonight.

The one thing that doesn’t seem right though, is the notable lack of harmonising that on record adds an extra dimension of melody that lift the songs skywards. The fact that they’re almost non-existent tonight removes an element of Red Animal War’s beauty, and adds to this aforementioned sense of urgency. Nevertheless singer Justin's gravelly vocals are superb alone, and guitarist Matt does come in on the vital parts; I have a feeling the dodgy PA has something to do with this minor quibble. They finish their set with the instrumental ‘Get Away Driver’, being told they can only do one more song (cheers, Douglas) bringing the wave gradually back to sea-level so to speak. They’re coming back next spring, but that seems so far away.sigh. So in the mean time, I suggest you purchase ‘Breaking In An Angel’ and wait, ever so patiently.