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It’s Saturday night. The sun is shining, the nights are getting lighter and despite a chill in the air, it’s the perfect night to have a few drinks and a dance to some live music…which is grand because that’s exactly what I did, with Holy Moly and the Crackers providing the perfect sound track.

The Newcastle-based six piece band are out on the road in support of their third album Take a Bite, as well as their latest single Upside Down. Band on the Wall was packed to the rafters with a raucous crowd firmly in the mood for a bloody good time and that is what they got.

The band blast through a 70 minute set at breakneck speed that included new songs Take A Bite and Kiss Me Before You Go, that fit perfectly with older songs: Sugar and Devil and the Danube. Ruth Patterson is a fantastic vocalist and together with Conrad Bird (vocals/guitar/trumpet) the audience (and myself) are bouncing along to track after track.

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Musically the band manage to marry punk, indie, folk and rock to create a riotous sound that instantly leads to comparisons with The Pogues. You can’t really go wrong with a guitar, bass, drums, violin and squeezebox can you?! Standout moments of this blistering set included booze soaked Naked In Budapest and the band’s unique take on John Martyn’s Cocaine and Johnny Cash’s Ain’t No Grave: the band certainly do something different with these tracks and make them their own.

This is a group of talented musicians at the top of their game, putting on a live show packed full of vibrancy and energy that will have you up on your feet and singing at the top your voice from start to finish. The whole band are on point; they are clearly having a blast and are great to watch – dynamic and full of energy. They are certainly a band worth catching before they inevitably move on to bigger venues!