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Prior to the headliners beginning the set, a screen flickered into life above the stage at a packed to the rafters Kazimier.
A short monochrome film showing fans going berserk at previous dates on Sound of Guns’ UK tour was played, the scenes depicted on screen topped by those in attendance for their homecoming gig.
Part of the additional entertainment value with SOG comes in attempting to work out which route singer Andy Metcalfe is likely to take in his continuing mission to investigate the lesser-seen parts of the nation’s venue ceilings and balconies.
Such clambering around the venue was not needed however, as the gap between the audience and the band was virtually non-existent.
‘We’ll come to you, not you to us’ the singer stated, as he hopped off the venue’s low stage and strode out into the audience.
Bullets in the Bloodstream’s churning riffs took on an almost military stomp in the sweatbox conditions, the choruses bellowed in unison by the audience.
The hammering riff of Breakwater elsewhere saw massed outbreaks of pogoing as the band’s ultra-volume approach paid dividends, captivating the crowd.
Before the headline attraction, The Rialto Burns continued their ascent, playing to an audience of virtually the same size.
With the audience packed in tight in front of the stage, the quintet easily matched the continued buzz surrounding them.
Sourcing the darker end of the early eighties post punk canon, their razor sharp Siouxsie and the Banshees guitar lines and compellingly gloomy Cure atmospheres collided brilliantly.
Their allotted time reached a pinnacle with an intense reading of Show Me Your Colours, delivered with the same desperate passion as early 1990s Depeche Mode.
Comprising the bulk of imminent debut album Learning to Fight, their set prepared the ground for the disc in superb style.
Photos by Marie Hazelwood