Saturday 24/11/07 Boy Hits Car, Car Crash Television, Vert, Innogen @ The Boiler Room, Guilford

The aptly-named Boiler Room was a welcome and friendly shelter from the frankly Baltic conditions outside on a blustery November evening, and local five-piece Innogen wasted no time warming up the modest crowd, with a tight and technically-excellent set. At their best when only two of the three lead guitars were plugged in, their dark visions and furious fretwork mean they are surely meant to grace bigger venues in the years to come.

Next up were Wolverhampton boys Vert, who literally stomped all over the small stage, throwing out melodic slabs of malevolent metal reminiscent of Earthtone9. More than doing their Black Country musical heritage proud, giant frontman Steve Braund ensured that the room shook with every guttural roar and ferocious riff of new song, “Accepting Denial.”

Car Crash Television from Kent seemed to revel in lulling all and sundry into a false sense of security with ambient, ethereal intros and their boyish good-looks, before launching into Muse-like numbers that washed across the crowd like a tsunami, building and crashing with contrasting intensity to their angelic beginnings.

So far then, so good.  It was clear though, from both crowd reaction and the fact that all of the above bands were now lingering around the bar clutching their drinks, that the main attraction was still to come…