Walking into a quaint little pub described as ‘the asshole of Manchester’ was a strange experience. As the karaoke corner downstairs was being set-up, upstairs was where the young’uns were. Known to be one of the most popular nights in Manchester, it began to fill up and opening gun Bitterly Ironic set up his painfully expensive looking gear.

Big hair and big shoes prevailed and there was a lot of trendy noise, but for me, there was no substance. A mix-up in the line-up found sexy ‘sinister disco’ band UR Penetrators on stage next. They gave the crowd a bit of fuck off- punky-disco-pop. This fresh four piece surprised the crowd with their hard-edged and irresistibly danceable music, warming the rather damp crowd into a well approving, though at that point, semi-shy bop. Nothing shy about front woman Liz though, who was giving it kitted out in gold short shorts and cognac coloured men’s shoes.

Modernaire cleared up any confusion with the line-up – making sure the crowd knew they were themselves and not UR Penetrators. Though I’m sure most of the crowd knew very well who this Manchester-based three piece were. Unbelievably catchy, Modernaire’s two Boop-esque female vocalists point blank told the punters to move on forward, and move they did. Choir-like, slashy vocals belied dark lyrics; all coming together with far darker and dirty electro backing provided by the one and only Oscar Wildstyle who also supplied the key-tar cherry on top.

By the time (We Are) Performance took the stage, upstairs at the Black Lion was pumping whilst Phoenix Nights was blazing downstairs to Phil Collins and Frank Sinatra.

Front man Joe of Performance absolutely commands the stage. The excitement coming from the crowd was palpable, as Manchester’s proclaimed ‘electro darlings’ worked the crowd. A dive into the audience resulted in a sneaky ass grab by a cheeky punter at singer Joe – not that he seemed to notice; he was too in the zone to care. Reminiscent of the Killers; with the addition of two adorable female vocalists to provide harmonically mature backing vocals: exciting stuff.

The Real Dolls rocked up with their own UV light sabres to illuminate their all white Shitdisco type outfits. In their fluoro whites, Real Dolls smashed up similar elements from different genres, songs that resulted in a Spank Rockin’/Beastie Boys bopping swagger. A bit ghetto and a bit grrrr: Real Dolls were real fun, despite being a bit confused as to where they were coming from.

Unfortunately, transport restrictions prevented me from seeing Dolby Anol who were headlining. Despite this, Contort Yourself has me contorting myself to try and get back up to Manchester to get to another one.