On a very wet and windy Saturday night, I ventured down to Ivory Blacks to witness a line-up of 5 young, upcoming Scottish bands given a platform to demonstrate their musical talents courtesy of Rip It Up. First up was the all-female alternative rock band Athena’s Army. I discovered them shortly before this gig and I had quickly become a fan of their music, so I was looking forward to seeing the ladies live, and they lived up to my expectations – despite being a member down – with a solid set featuring tunes from their Run For Cover EP, a couple of really good covers and their most recent single A Matter of Time. Topped with good vocals, guitar work and drums, they kicked off the show very well.

Next up was pop punk band Floorboards – who were coincidentally also down a member – and they played a decent set, with the highlights including the fast paced Crabbit Rabbit and their Brand New cover which featured great backing vocals from guitarist Ian. There appeared to be a couple of slips here and there but on the whole I quite enjoyed their set.

Instrumental rock duo Wojtek (pronounced “voytek”, if memory serves me right) were next to take the stage, and just like the first time I witnessed them live last summer, they were brilliant. With a combination of dynamic guitar riffs and hard hitting drum work, they delivered a fantastic set from beginning to end that received quite a warm response from the crowd, and rightfully so. These guys are among the most underrated bands in all of Scotland right now and deserve a lot more attention. If you’re one of those people unaware of these guys, check out their becaused EP, it’s damn good stuff.

The Belafonte followed up with a cracking and very energetic set with stand out qualities including the vocals, Jack hammering the drums like no-one’s business and Josh’s swift guitar work. Even when his strap came undone halfway through a tune, he never missed a step. Another impressive live performance from one of Ayrshire’s finest rock bands.

And speaking of Ayrshire, folk-punk band Losing Ground capped off the night with a really enjoyable set which had the entire crowd invested from start to finish, including a couple of people in particular – pretty intoxicated by the looks of things – getting down and dancing to the music. The highlights for me included Lead Heart and Where I’m From, both from their Home EP, which were not only damn good live, but had a chunk of the audience singing back the words to the band. All in all, they were a lot of fun and I hope to see them again in the not too distant future.