The Cottonettes

After a long, very tiring day, I needed a proper full-on rock pick-me-up with a little bit of complexity. The Cottonettes delivered on that first count with a ton of punk rock energy. A little too straight ahead for my liking, but you have to admire their passion; not to mention a knack for some really solid punk songwriting. If punk is your thing, The Cottonettes will tick all your boxes, and you must click their social media link ( provided in the list below) immediately.

In Dynamics

These guys really did it for me. As a longtime Biffy Clyro fan, it’s really heartwarming to hear their influence coming through via the music of a new generation of musicians. The world needs more music that lies a little to the left of centre, and Biffy and their devotees deliver precisely that.

When a band’s first notes gently lull you into a false sense of security before brutally punching you full on in the ear-guts, you know a stellar set is going to follow. If I’m being totally honest, when In Dynamics really got going my inner Cynical Critic Copycat Alarm was triggered for a song or two, but it wasn’t long before the sheet weight of their sound, passion, and confidence – not to mention their tunes – won me over.

It’s official – I am now a fan of In Dynamics. Nicely done, guys!

A Plastic Rose

This set was great fun to witness. A Plastic Rose really know how to relax in front of a crowd and work around the silliest technical difficulties (too-high mic stands, for instance) without getting flustered. A Plastic Rose just seem at home onstage – the mark of a well-experienced band who are going to be doing very big things in the future.

Musically, there’s plenty of grungy riffage with hints of Feeder, Biffy Clyro, and the kind of pissed-off punk energy that harkens back to the roots of modern rock as we presently know it. A Plastic Rose know their history, taking influence from a range of eras – but there’s something about the way they mix it all together that marks them out as something just different enough to really pique our interest.

Although I’d heard of A Plastic Rose prior to this show, I’d never heard them on record. This set was more than enough to make me kick myself for my complacence and rectify that sacrilege ASAP. All the self-kicking meant I had to hop home, but hey – learning from your mistakes is the best kind of learning.