Saturday 18/12/04 Metro Riots, Junkbox @ Nambucca, London

Blasting on and getting the crowd moving they switch from fast songs that make you twitch to steadier ones that tell you whose the boss; from one number to another the boys are kept in time by their brilliant drummer - Shoko, who looks so chilled despite beating her kit like she’s killing a giant spider. Even being plunged into darkness at one point when the stage spot lights go out doesn't tarnish Junkbox's night and they all look as though they’ve had a good time, and the crowd look like they’ve had an even better one.

 

Metro Riots step onto Nambucca’s small but perfectly formed stage (for them it might as well be Wembley Stadium) and they proceed to drag the crowd through a set so sleazy that Guns N’ Roses would have been proud to perform it. The half light of the stage casts huge shadows on the blood red walls behind the four figures, rocking the stage with one of the best numbers of their set ‘Lured Into Roulette’, a dark and heavy tune that once it has the crowd in its hold it doesn’t let go.