ON a weekend where an awful lot of shows had either been cancelled or cut back, I was so glad that this Rockbitch hard-core show was pretty much untouched. Mind you, it was still very cold with a lot of snow still on the ground and this was sure to have put some faint hearts off.

First up were a newish, youngish local band by the name of Crown. They faced a modest, but growing crowd, playing well, with a mixture of the harsher and more melodic styles. I was impressed and have marked them down as ones to watch in this coming year.

Next up were High Hopes who are (mostly) based in Reading, but who have recently taken on Nick (ex-Blood of the Spectre) from Basingstoke. This was not his first show with them, but it’s the first time I have seen him in action with his new band and he did very well indeed. He fitted right in, plenty of moving around like the rest of the band with powerful and aggressive vocals perfectly suited to the music. The evening was building very nicely.

Then up that snowy old road from Alton came Northpaw. I recently had the pleasure of reviewing their CD and wondered if I would ever get a chance to see this fine band. Well somebody upstairs must like me, because here they were and they did not disappoint. It was hard-core for sure but with an added injection of complexity and sophistication, plus a mixture of aggressive and more melodic vocal styles. They are a tight band who sound good both live and in the studio.

Main support was taken by Try me/Love me who are something of a supergroup in the DIY/underground scene, with members who hail from a number of already well established awesome bands. They have already posted tracks and videos on the internet, so the large crowd had a good idea of what they were trying to do - the question was could they pull it off live? Easily I think, it was a fantastic performance which get a great response, a bit heavier than melodic hard-core, but not too extreme - it should have pretty wide appeal.

The headline band were Death of an Artist from Bournemouth, who I have actually seen before, but it was a while ago now. They have come on a long way since then, and are a lot tighter, more confident and have a broader style to their delivery. It was pretty packed by now which helped to take the edge off the cold.

I quite fancied a bit of moss-pit action to really get the circulation going and it was a powerful end to a really excellent evening.

Thanks to all the bands, to Jon and the management and staff of the Bang Bar.

Neil Duncan, ISSUEPUNKZINE