Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

I arrived at Masons a little early (eager beaver that I am) gatecrashing the end of the Panama Kings soundcheck! To be honest, I have a real soft spot for the band but I have seen them countless times before and assumed this would be "just another gig". I was wrong. The place wasn't exactly filled to capacity but all eyes were to the front as the guys started to play.

Mobilise The Kids kicked things off, followed by their anthem, Children. It may just be me but they seemed to really enjoy the set and have fun with it, possibly because the pressure's now off a bit what with it being their second-last ever gig! And, as Niall reminds us of this, cue the nostalgia and the "note to self" about their last gig on 4th November, which will see the original four piece line-up return. As they carry on with tracks including I Don't Wanna Die, finally finishing with their cover of Pixies' Where Is My Mind, I'm left feeling sad that its going to end, that they're going to end, but buzzing off the energy of the gig and excited about where they will go from here!

I've never seen Cast of Cheers live. If I'm brutally honest I'd never listened to them before checking out their myspace on the day of the gig. This could have simply been a Panama Kings gig for me. I was happy, I was ready to go home, surely this would be a let down... Wrong again!

They were described to me as "The Foals meet Adebisi Shank" and this description is perfect. As soon as they started with Tiger Fox I was hooked. The catchy riffs, the pedal tricks, the drum beats - this is definitely my kind of music! Goose is one of their catchiest songs but it was their new song (as yet unnamed but with the working title LCD) that really caught my attention. And kudos to the drummer who barely broke a sweat even though I was convinced the drum-kit would crumble under his blows! I go to a lot of gigs but it's rare that I will find a band I've not listened to that totally blow me away. Expect big things from these guys!

The only downside to the gig was that the crowd that had gathered for the Panama Kings seemed to disperse just before Cast of Cheers took to the stage. To those people I say, "your loss"! To everyone else the line that kept being repeated last night; "I love this"!

Sarah McGlinchey