It has been a while since we were last at this awesome Chesterfield venue! So, the fact that we were able to return to see three incredible young rock bands is honestly awesome! And the gig was nearly sold out too, which is impressive for originals bands in a more cover/tribute-based venue. Let’s see how it all was, shall we?

First up were the local lads, Penumbra. The band were a little more indie than the rest on the lineup, but they are a fantastic live band and brought plenty of their friends and fans along for the show! And the band are born showmen too, performing fantastically even though they don’t seem to have been going too long! Plus, it’s pretty heavy for indie rock, a side of the genre that I have always loved! They tore the place down for a solid half an hour set and definitely gained some new fans in the process, including myself! I can’t wait to hear more studio stuff from the band and see where they go from here, as they are already gathering a great following!

Next up were, of course, the best band in the world. You know the spiel by now. Yes, I’m in the band, but there was no way I wasn’t reviewing this awesome gig. And, I’d like to think that we did a good job! People were enjoying it; the crowd still being pretty packed out, and it sounded great from up on stage! A massive thank you to Ben and the rest of the Souls lot for having us on the show, it was a great night and we all had a blast, even though we were melting in the heat! Thank you to everyone who came out early to check us out, and who came up to us to compliment the show afterwards, it was a good night!

After a brief, only somewhat stressful changeover, the headliners took to the stage. The band are consummate professionals, having their full back line and a big banner and coming on to ‘Country Roads’, making them feel like a big deal right from the offset. Then, they came on and played a stormer of a set for a full 90-minutes, and that feeling continued throughout! Playing so much awesome stuff for their incredible debut album, as well as a couple of fantastic covers, it was certainly a set to remember! Everyone sounded incredible throughout and had such a suave stage presence about them that was magnetic to watch. Heck, we even got a MEGA drum solo from Charlie, easily a highlight of a set packed full of them! It’s very easy to see why the band have been quickly on the up and up over the last couple of years; from shows like this to their studio stuff, it’s all awesome. They are gonna be a massive name in the scene sooner rather than later, mark my words!

And there we have it folks, an awesome night in a great venue in a city that is rather underrated when it comes to live music. All three bands were awesome and put on one hell of a show to the packed, nearly sold-out crowd at Real Time Live. If you ever get the chance to see any of the three bands live, I cannot recommend them enough, and you should definitely check them out on track too! All the bands have plenty of shows and festivals over the summer, so get down to at least one of them, you won’t be disappointed!