After seeing No Grace Given at RockD on Saturday, with a disappointing crowd, it was great to see them supporting such a big local tribute act. Their dirty heavy riffs laced with an edgy groove combined with frontman Andy’s very strong and distinctive voice make them worthy of one of the top bands in the scene at the minute, and set them apart from the usual metal scene.

They looked effortless, and it was hard to pinpoint a band like them. A great choice for a warm up act (literally – it was roasting). ‘Falling Apart’ infects your brain, I couldn’t stop rocking my head – and i wasn’t alone. It’s hard to get 4 good musicians that work equally as great in a band, but these guys do it so right – very tight, simple and effective, and you could easily hear them on an album and never get sick of it.

It goes without saying there’s nothing more alluring than a dirty riff, and I felt ashamed at those standing at the back – even with a crippled foot I managed to pull my stool closer. The stage set up was great, and with the help of the lighting guy’s great strobe light skills, and the projector firing out images of the bands name and obscure pictures, it was nothing short of perfect. Bit of a guitar lead fail halfway through ‘Relentless’, but they worked it, and it didn’t affect the rest of their set. I’ve seen them a few times, but this was the best by far, and No Grace should really be bigger than they are.

AC?DC kicked off with ‘Livewire’, and it felt like watching the original DC (with a few details changed). The band exuded an awesome atmosphere, and deemed themselves worthy of being one of the best local tribute acts that have been seen and heard in a long time. The singer was denimlicious, and the random old man going mental at the front definitely helped in the making of an epic night.

‘Angus’ began to remove item by item of clothing, before exposing a pair of bright blue ‘AC/DC’ boxers – it literally felt like I was back in that field in Donnington (A very, very good thing).  The strip tease was excellent, and with the punters shouting ‘GET THEM OFF’, I was just thinking to myself ‘I wan’t a pair. Stop teasing me.’ (and honestly didn’t know where to look).

When they belted out ‘The Jack’, the place started grinding to possibly one of the sexiest songs ever – they definitely did it justice, if not more. Even the guys on stage looked stoked. ‘Dirty Deeds’ was another classic moment, with every mouth in the crowd singing along. It was nice to see the singer try and base his look more on Bon Scott as opposed to Brian Johnson, and the fact that the guitarist held up a glass of wine instead of a beer during ‘A Touch Too Much’ added a nice bit of class.

It’s unusual to get great tribute acts, but to have one hailing from Belfast makes me really, really proud, and it was obvious I wasn’t the only one. They really got the crowd going during ‘High Voltage Rock and Roll’, and by the time they started into ‘If You Want Blood’ the place tore apart. There was no need for an inflatable Rosie, or cannons, or a large platform – the crowd and the craic in general were more than enough.

I watched in awe throughout ‘Highway To Hell’ and ‘TNT’ as the place exploded. They exited after ‘It’s a Long Way To The Top’, but not for long. Great to see them getting an encore, and when they returned, the singer had attained more of a Brian J look, before blasting out ‘Hells Bells’. AMAZING. There wasn’t a single person who wasn’t clapping along. ‘Angus’ (who was now fully clothed) dawned a rugby kit attaire (but I’d still tackle him anyway).

Just excellent, splendid, and other optimistic words.

By Tascha Kay