Some say that the Newcastle Rock scene has been in decline since the infamous Mayfair Ballroom was closed and the council spearheading the party culture in Newcastle aiming more as a hen and stag night city, omitting to consider the large numbers of local rock fans that existed at that time.

However, here tonight at Newcastle’s latest new music venue the Carling Academy we have not one, not two, but three North East based bands that were about to show the rest of the country that there are still plenty of good honest metal and hard rock bands to be found in the city.

The three bands appearing tonight were about to give us something old, something new and something quite bluesy, more than enough to satisfy even the most demanding of rock fans. 

Opening up tonight's affair were 300ft Gorilla, a band who have taken the bull by the horns and brought their own version of the Audioslave/Pearl Jam sound to the North East masses.  The band are led by frontman Paul Sloway who is joined by with guitarist Paul Hindmarsh, Neil Lough on bass and completing the line up last but not least Mick Robson on drums, all delivering a punch from the off.

The band opened up with ‘Zinc’ and instantly Sloway made his presence felt with some powerful vocals along with some sublime guitar work by Hindmarsh.  The set continued to impress with ‘King’ and the excellent 'Stand Up’, with Hindmarsh really shining on this one.

The near capacity venue was given a real boost as the crowd moved forward when the band brought things down a touch with ‘Kicking Out Your Dreams’, which went down particularly well with the Rn'R WAGS who made their presence felt as they cheered on their guys.

This is a band that really got the crowd going and I for one will be looking out for in the future, great stuff. 

Next up were young Metal hopefuls Skin Flint, a band who were without a doubt influenced by the great Metallica and Thin Lizzy to name but two.  The band have created quit a buzz round the local scene with their covers shows but tonight was all about them as they opened up their account with ‘Backing Down’ and straight away I thought Metallica, with the twin guitars of frontman Dave and Kev whipping up a storm, with Kev doing a damn fine James Hetfield impersonation right down to the black wrist bands.

The band's kick ass set continued with ‘The Dagger In Me’, again the Bay Area influence was in abundance but this didn’t bother me or the majority of the crowd who were quite simply mesmerized by the twin guitar licks and the thumping rhythm section.

Kev introduced the next one ‘Strive To Be’ as being a little bit dirty.  Again this song was simply stunning with both guitars sounding superb.

The bands NU-NWOBHM sound was great to hear as they continued to power on through with ‘One’.  No not a Metallica cover but their own song, which to be honest was just as intense a metal sound as the Metallica song.

They finished off their short but impressive set with the highlight of it all for me, the grinding metal of 'Erase The Memory’.  This epic was all about the guitars as Dave’s vocals took a back seat as he and Kev again ripped up a metal storm.

It's plain to see why the band have been creating a buzz around the region.  With a few more new songs under their belts I’m sure an album deal will be coming their way. 

Now for the main event.  Well tonight we’d had it all, NU-Metal and Heavy Metal now it was time for some good honest Hard Rock courtesy of Ed Box's Vendetta.  This is a band that again have created quite a buzz around the region mostly due to the popularity of frontman and guitar wiz Ed Box, who I must admit I'm only familiar with because of his recent solo album ‘Moonfudge’.

The band are old school Hard Rock at their heart as they open up with ‘Generation Kill’, a gritty hard rocker with Box and fellow guitarist Pete Thompson both showing their credentials as extraordinary guitar players, with strong support from the rhythm section of Gary Foule and Lee Lamb.

The classic Hard Rock sound continued with ‘No Safe Hole’, with a determined Box giving his all on the vocals, so much so you could see the sheer determination on his face.  This is a man who lives for his music and it showed here tonight.

The big soaring riffs continued from Box and Thompson with ‘All Fall Down’ before the first of the covers ‘Running With The Devil’.  This Van Halen classic was musically sound but the only thing that let it down was Box’s vocals, which were struggling a little and weren’t as punchy as Roth’s (but who is?), but musically it was sound. 

It was back to the original material with a new song, the first in two and a half years, aptly entitled ‘New Horizon’, which showed the band still have what it takes to write a great Hard Rock song and this one was more suited to Box’s vocals.

I mentioned Ed Box’s 'Moonfudge' album earlier and we were treated to one of those tracks off this with the excellent instrumental ‘Axis Of Evil’.  This is where Box really comes into his own and it showed why he is regarded as one of the north’s leading guitar players. 

The set sound was brought down a bit with the melodic tones of ‘Lost Cause’, then it was time for another new one this time ‘Golden Boy’ which filled the room with its hard rock splendour.

Ed quickly endorsed to support the hard rock scene, in particular the Scorpions tour later this year one of Ed’s favourite bands and with their influence behind the next song ‘My Revelation’ this seemed quite appropriate.

The second of the covers was up next, this time the Judas Priest classic ‘Breaking The Law’, which got the Vendetta treatment.  Again Box’s vocals just couldn't come close to Halfords but again you couldn’t help but admire his enthusiasm and determination and again the band were musically sound.

The harder edged Vendetta songs were more suited to Box’s vocals with ‘Bone To Dust’ being a prime example.

The band finished of the main part of their set with the highlight of the evening ‘I Executioner’, a song that was definitely more Metal to your elbow as regards to the guitar work of Thompson who was just superb. 

After a short break the band were back for the encore and again it was back to the classics with a song in honour of Sharon Osbourne quitting the X-Factor and their version of Ozzy’s ‘Crazy Train’, before finally rounding of the night with AC/DC’s ‘Sin City’.  A quick video message was recorded for Box’s friends Ash and Joy’s wedding as the crowd gave them a big "Whoo Yeahh!". 

Tonight renewed my hope that the Newcastle Rock and Metal scene is on its way back as all three bands brought something different to the night and showed that all genres can in fact be catered for in one night.