When I first entered the Joiners I thought I'd inadvertently slipped down a time hole and ended up at the Old Grey Whistle Test around 1972.

The members of support band Tokyo Dragons with their long hair, Cuban heels, tight jeans and 70's sideburns could have easily slotted into Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath or early AC/DC.

Tokyo Dragons

Their music is just what the look would suggest - heavy, gritty, passionate rock with heels up on the monitors for plenty of screaming guitar solos.

They've got it all - the poses, classic rock songs about women and booze and a bass player who even wears mirrored CHIPS-style shades and gets away with it.

It all looks good on paper and I reckon we'll be feeling the heat of the dragon's breath again very soon.

Next up, the icing on the cake for this evening - Winnebago Deal. As the lights went down the duo kicked off in a flurry of hair and I braced myself for a heart-pounding, thrilling ride.

Minutes in, the floor was bouncing, sweat was flying and judging by the girth on the necks of some of the crowd, the moshpit wasn't something to mess with.

Ben, a blur of sticks and hair.

The turbo-charged pair are a force to be reckoned with and produce the type of killer riffs that would make many guitarists choke on their cornflakes with envy.

Song highlights for me were Breakdown which has a QOTSA and dark Turbonegro edge to it and a great chorus to scream along to and L.S. Fiction with its primal thumping drums and grubby riffs was another head nodder.

Their set is almost one continuous song with hardly any banter from Ben who just waggled a finger at the crowd every now then to get them moshing/headbanging even harder, which is exactly what they've come for.

Winnebago Deal are a couple of mavericks who have a hell of a good time playing their music. They also just happen to have all the ingredients to blast their contemporaries into oblivion.