My first taste of Norwegian rockers Moth Circus was hearing their excellent debut album ‘Sideshow Sweetheart’.  My second encounter was just last weekend at the SOS Festival in Radcliffe, Manchester.  On both occasions I have been suitably impressed with the Stavanger’s natives slick gritty rock n' roll.

So when the guys were handing out flyers for the tour I was pleased to see they would be playing in my neck of the woods just seven days later.  So we couldn’t miss the opportunity to not only check out the guys once again, but also to check out this relatively new North East venue. 

Although there was three bands on the bill, it was only Moth Circus we had come to see, so sorry to the other two bands.

The band consisting of Glenn Asbjornsen, Alien Ken, Johnny Olsen and Tommy Richter laid down their intentions from the opening salvo of ‘M.I.A.’ and ‘A Dog And His Junkie’, with the in-house sound system only just standing up to the opening barrage.  There was no rest bite as the band continued to throw out the monster tunes with the excellent ‘Carousel’ before bringing a little funk into the mix with ‘Crimson Glory’.

Although the crowd wasn’t massive those who were present were really getting into the band and their contagious vibe.  Another fellow SOS-er was down the front giving it his all as the band carried on there high octane rock n' roll with ‘Dreamland’ and another couple of favourites of mine ‘Little Lo’, and the title track of the band excellent album ‘Sideshow Sweetheart’.

The band rounded off their set in emphatic style with ‘Death Living’, a real barnstormer of a song to round off a great set from a band with a big big future.  If you like your rock driven with monster riffs then check out Moth Circus, and if you see them named at a venue near you, go check them out. Or even just check out the album ‘Sideshow Sweetheart’, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.