WITH a couple of interesting names on the line-up, this was the must-see show for me and curiously it was the unknown opening band who had me the most gobsmacked.

They are called Wreck and I believe they are from Basingstoke. They are so new, that they don't even have a facebook or website yet. Female fronted classic rock - good and punchy. Technically, they were very good and they seemed to have so much confidence that I could hardly believe it was their first show. So kudos to this band who I will be looking out for in the future.

Next up were a band called Nathan Detroit who come from Trowbridge. They were reasonably up tempo, which is always good and technically I couldn't fault them. One of the things that got me to the show was the fact they listed their genre as 'punk/emo'... no, definitely not.

The band lacked virtually any of the key elements to qualify for that description and 'indie' or even 'Brit pop' would have been far more accurate and left me less disappointed.

Then to Dead Kansas (was there an American State/city theme going on here?) - who come from the Home Counties. Already agitated, I was gritting my teeth as they seemed to take an age to set up - I am notoriously impatient.

At least they were pretty consistent and true to their progressive/alternative billing. Again generally up tempo, technically good, but lacking that spark of excitement. No doubt their family and friends present loved them, but they'll love them anyway - it's strangers like me that you have got to try and woo.

Calvinball were up next - all the way from Sheffield and a nearly legendary melodic hard-core with a great reputation, but very sadly embarking on one final tour. The contrast in their performance was dramatic. They had all the technical ability but were able to magnify it with an electric performance and plenty of fun banter with the crowd. I am pretty sure I have seen them before, though not in Basingstoke, and was glad to have had this one last chance to catch such a great band.

Then all the way from Wisconsin in the USA was Arms Aloft. They too hit the ground running and were able to push the excitement just a little bit further. Again they were melodic hard-core, which is a genre that combines some of the raw edginess of hard-core punk with some of the catchier and more melodic hooks of pop-punk.

I really enjoyed their set and the icing on the cake was that they had plenty of cheap merchandise, so I definitely grabbed me some of that.

Thanks to all the bands for playing, to Rockbitch for putting on the show and for the management and staff for an interesting night out.

Neil Duncan, ISSUEPUNKZINE