I have to confess, my first thoughts upon seeing Samuel Taylor stroll onto the stage, complete with acoustic guitar and harmonica, were not overly positive. The addition of a singer-songwriter to the foot of a bill populated exclusively by rock bands seemed like an odd choice, and indeed, at first I was tempted to scorn Taylor’s Dylan-esque sound, which, whilst catchy, remains ultimately derivative. However, as the show went on, I found myself warming to him – despite a slight lack of originality, Taylor’s music is nothing if not pleasant, and he rounds off a well-polished set with a relaxed, comfortable stage presence and a salvo of confident, entertaining crowd banter. In short, as much as a rocker like me can try, it’s very difficult not to let him win you over!

BlackWolf inhabit a vastly different territory, and one that’s far more familiar to me. The band explodes onto the stage with a wall of power-chord noise, and launch into a big, loud set of classic hard rock. BlackWolf openly wear the twin influences of AC/DC and Led Zeppelin on their sleeves, with an adrenaline-fuelled, no frills live show that makes it very clear the band are enjoying themselves just as much as the crowd, especially in the case of guitarist Jason Cronin, who throws himself into each and every song with gusto. The same could be said of Scott Sharp, whose vocals – whilst a little flamboyant at times – are reminiscent of a young Robert Plant.

Tonight’s headliner The Temperance Movement hail from ‘between London and Glasgow’, but they sound more like a band rooted in America’s deep south, with country-tinged hard rock riffs reminiscent of Lynyrd Skynyrd and whisky-drenched vocals. The band add to their mixing pot of influences a healthy dose of classic rock’n’roll à la The Eagles, The Rolling Stones and even Led Zeppelin, to create a sound that is driven but supremely melodic, with truly fantastic songwriting all round. It’s not often that a band with which you aren’t at all familiar can entertain for over an hour and a half! Particular credit goes to frontman Phil Campbell, whose energetic and, at times, eccentric antics during the set are enlivening, as is his gravelly voice, reminiscent of Chris Cornell. Ultimately, this set is loud, sweaty and great fun – exactly how a rock’n’roll gig should be. The band demonstrate the necessity for diversity through the performance of a magical ‘unplugged’ version of their song ‘Chinese Lanterns’, complete with harmony vocals from all five members of the band, rounding off one of the best live performances I’ve seen in the last year. Keep an eye on these guys!