Having been in possession of tickets for this gig for over 3 months I was looking forward this one to say the least. A big yankee band who sounded very impressive on CD left me I expecting a great deal. What a twat!

Me and my good lady arrived about 7.45pm with already a good crowd building. People assured me that this would be good with the DK's being exceptional the last time they played Manchester. Sounds good to me.

Upstairs it was for the first band whom went by the name of Roger Miret and the Disasters. How aptly titled because rest assured this was a disaster. Usual yankee tunes dished out by a frontman with a complete lack of style and conviction. A banana and chocolate shirt does nothing to instill an on stage presence as does having a seemingly Rolling Stones reject on guitar. The Agnostic Front cover went down well but the insulting Cocksparrer cover ridiculously entitled 'New York Belongs To Me' was a faux Pas of the highest order. The senior members of the crowd dispersed after this dreadful ditty with a sour taste caused by the overuse of the word crap. And indeed crap summed up this opener.

Next up it was Frenzal Rhomb (whatever that means). Several words spring to mind for this showing but whilst on a roll I'll opt for crap. Just run of the mill stuff with no highlight to speak of. Not punk for me and strictly I suspect for the younger crowd but definitely a whole lot lacking here. Talent maybe?

Finally to the DKM's. Surely after this double helping of dire support the Dropkick's could save the day. With a nice rehearsed bagpipe build-up (only marred by a few boneheads holding lighters aloft) the scene was well and truly set. Now lets have it.

'Barroom Heroes', 'The Gauntlet' and 'Blackout' were 3 of the first six tracks and basically did it for me and my wife. With expectations higher than this the DKM's failed to deliver. A shite sound with an equally shite atmosphere and an all round shite performance we walked out to the bar never to return.

In the bar we weren't alone as other local punk knowledge gathered. Ageless Chaps promoter Steve expressed his disappointment as did several other faces who all agreed that this was a crap gig. What a disappointment.