After a days mushrooming and an ultra busy previous week with a 1000 miles under the belt I arrived at The Retro Bar looking forward to some good bands strutting their stuff at the excellent end of the month Ska Bar showcase. A good job is being done here and Emma and the Ska Team are surely going to increase their pulling power if the standard is so consistently high.

Upon arrival I was met by Tim 'Punk4Life' Davies and Big Daz who were just off for a snifter or two before the first band. Easily persuaded I joined them and suggested a bottle of bronze may be in order to take off the old edge. No bronze at The Spar so a nice bottle of Jacob's Creek wine was caned in a 4 minute blast. Back to the venue and the pints flowed quickly and the Halloween fancy dress party seemed in full swing and Pirates of Heroes were up and at it. Dressed in buccaneering garb these lot put in a fine set and really opened my eyes to a band who seem confident of their ability and song writing skill.

Some cracking melodies here and top ska riffs and having already booked them for a Fungalskapunka gig next year I was quite chuffed at what I witnessed. I suspect the time the gig comes around for me there will be more improvement and they should be putting in a real stunner.

More beer and Kickback were up with a few familiar faces in the mix from other regular performers at The Ska Bar.

A real solid set this with a bunch of songs that were well delivered and overflowing with high energy and bouncing rhythms. This is another outfit booked by myself on Myspace evidence and the judgement is more than sound. A very well organised set and all members playing a vital role towards the end result which is a vital element in the ska/punk genre.

Well there were a few more great bands to go but like a twat that I am I went upstairs and became involved in a piss-up that went from simple drunkeness to staggering idiocy. I don't know what went wrong but for the amount I drank this wasn't the expected outcome. I suspected foul play somewhere along the lines or was it just one of those shitty sessions you have now and then but sad to say I missed the rest of the gig. I had a fair old time anyway but am real narked at myself for not supporting all the outfits on show - sorry lads and lasses.

Here's some photos of the boozing tomfoolery and what not and make sure you get down to the next Ska Bar night as its well worth the effort and needs supporting.