My first gig of 2013, what a line up! What a venue! And it proved to set the bar extremely high for the forthcoming year.

Lonely Kamel were something of an unknown to me until a week before the gig, figuring their southern, doom infused blues hailed from NOLA I was about to be proved very wrong. These Norwegians simply blew me away; you couldn't get much further North from NOLA if you tried. Playing their first ever UK gig it made me question why it's taken them so long to get their beards over to these parts. It was simply the most impressive support band I've seen in a while, their 45 minute set was a groove laden, foot stompin' affair. Balancing the set perfectly it kept its momentum throughout and left me with a shit eating grin from start to finish. When the blues - soaked solos came to their conclusion the rapturous crowd response left Lonely Kamel in total shock. What an impressive set by a band that deserves to be huge.

With the bar set way beyond my expectations things were about to remain at that level for the remainder of the evening as The Sword took to the stage. You don't tour with Metallica and not learn a thing or two about live delivery. With their fat heavy sound it's straight into 'Apocryphon' from the album of the same name, the sound was immense. The venue shook as it was headlong into 'Freya' and its unmistakable riff that many have tried to accomplish on Guitar Hero. Thundering along and using their allotted time to bring pure music to the venue it was not wasted on words, letting the stoner infused riffs do the talking for them. The Sword have been around for a few years now, playing their unashamed brand of 70's riff-a-ramma their live credentials are unsurpassed. Tonight was no exception, with every show on this short tour either sold out or close to selling out The Sword have yet to fully accomplish the recognition they truly deserve for the talent they collectively hold. 2013 has got to a magical tinnitus inducing start, with these two bands on this kind of form I fear for my hearing in the coming months.