On a dark, cold and crisp night in Dudley,West Midlands UK we found ourselves in a little oasis of live music in the heart of the Black Country. The Foundry has been around since time began playing host to some of the most promising bands that the Midlands has to offer and last night was no exception.

A friendly local crowd gathered in the hottest pub known to man or beast , with a cold beer and an open mind, they were not dissapointed. First up for our evening's entertainment was a band called Swamp Snakes. Now, we've been talking to this band for quite a while and we were fortunate to be able to hook up with them before and after the show, they are as lively off stage as they are on, flamboyant and on fire. These guys were nothing short of thrilling,

I don't think the crowd were quite ready for what they were about to hear and a great suprise for me because I had never heard a single note of music from S/S before, as they told me before the gig "if you want to hear the music, you got to come to the show". I found this perspective an unusual one but, I had to agree, this is a band which does require that very notion, get your butts of your seat and get down to the gig.

With painted faces the lads cracked through an half hour set with great energy and enthusiasm, much like their no- nonsense rock n' roll. I thoroughly recommend you check this band out. and take time out to go and see them. You will never be dissapointed and often suprised, never knowing quite what they will do next.

With a very short break between the bands, next up was Primer.

I had a little worrying conversation with Claire,Sig and Andy before the show as I learned that night that the drummer had gone AWOL. With his usual and unique no- nonsense charm Andy (Bass) reasurred me that this was not a problem "we can always get another one" was his response to my enquiry. Primer are planning to record in May/June so I was a little concerned for the guys but with great confidence they told me that the show must go on, you have to admire bands like this, not just for thier music but for their work ethic as well, which for Primer, is unequalled.

Apologies were made for the absence of a drummer and a more down beat, relaxed acoustic set began. An enjoyable 30 minutes and a great opportunity to get a good listen to the lead singer's vocals, it was a treat to hear Primer in a more relaxed setting and a chance for the crowd to listen to the Celtic vibe of Claires delivery of normally "heavy as hell" songs. I do prefer, personally speaking, to hear this band with a fuller, heavier sound, however, given the circumstances they pulled this set off extremely well, engaging with the crowd who responded with the usual love and respect for this band. PRIMER.....Please get your new drummer and crank it back up again!

Now at this point of the evening I was about to pack away my camera and head on home up the motorway, eager to get home and do this write up. Suddenly it appeared that there was another band on. I thought "well, I suppose I better stick around", the prospect of getting home before 10pm on a Sunday night, cup of tea and then off to bed was a little too late 30's for my liking so I decided to stop and listen.

The final band of the evening were a local outfit called "This Elegant Chaos" , with a name like that I just had to stay and listen. I was really glad I did and I was thoroughly entertained by what I saw. Musically excellent, tight and by that time the sound engineer had sorted the mix out, this was a nicely polished act. This band has a natural chemistry, you can see there are no ego's or conflict here, these are not only a good band, they appear to be very good friends off stage too. This was most apparent between the guitarist and the bass player, comically dancing behind the back of the lead singer, being held together by a superb drummer. It would have been easy for this band to overpower their lead singer, as most on the local circuit do, however they got the balance spot on and allowed her to strut her stuff, which she certainly did. This is a well crafted band and another I would highly recommend you listen to. They've promised me a demo to upload to the site and I will most certainly be holding them to that!

Over all this was a worth while gig to be at, friendly and entertaining, rubbish beer garden for the smokers but you can't have it all. Many thanks for the warm welcome and we will be back to see you soon.