Thursday 17/04/03 Agent Blue, Find, Hedown, Groucho @ The Roadhouse, Manchester

First up was Agent Blue, a five-piece band from Stoke On Trent, who are signed to Fierce Panda. The stage was engulfed in a mass of smoke and strobe lighting as the band made their appearance with opening song 'New School Devil'. The set was so hard driven with strong bass lines and powerful guitar chords that the whole place vibrated. Lead singer Nic Andrews had the presence of a young Johnny Rotten in his prime. He held the audience's attention and nothing fazed him. They finished 6 songs later with their current release 'Snowhill', a Placebo-sounding guitar intro, leading to a frenzied climax of an impressive set. Although only 18 years old, the band have been together for 2 years and had played to a sell out gig of 400 people the night before in their home town, so tonight's turnout, although smaller, witnessed a band to watch out for.

Liverpool five-piece Find have been together for 3 years. Their set opened with 'Lies', a big tune with a big intro. This paved the way for a rollercoaster set, full of energy, enthusiasm and polish. As it progressed it became harder and faster with a punky aggression. The band had brought their hometown support with them and Ste the lead singer enjoyed the banter with the crowd.

Hedown are a five-piece band hailing from Manchester. Although only their second gig, they had a huge following and produced the performance of a band that had been playing together for much longer. Lead singer, Andrew, was full of confidence, controlled arrogance and charisma that the crowd loved. The seven-song set, which opened with 'The Most Powerful Man in The World' and finished with 'Smoochie Boochies' was full of powerful bass lines, with similarities to the Chilies and Audioslave, all blended together well. If self-confidence is anything to go by, they will be successful. I am sure we will hear more from them in the future.

Headlining were Mancunian four-piece Groucho, a band whose line-up has only recently been finalised. Opening with 'White Heat', a catchy melodic rock and roll tune, which set the scene for the rest of the set, a mixture of thoughtful, well executed, up beat summery tunes that held you and kept you interested. Phil Murphy, the lead singer had a feel of Roddy Frame (Aztec Camera), whilst the guitars in 'Speak' had Stone Roses overtones. Groucho were an excellent finale, to one of the best nights showcasing new bands.