A thunderous drumbeat grabs the audience attention immediately for PrettyChildBackFire, along with the tribal calls of the singer Mark McAllister. A lift in the vocals wouldn’t have gone amiss, but the singalong qualities of the band has the audience latching on for the whole set. Treating the crowd to a few new tunes, the catchy chorus’ combine with a trademark math rock sound, making this band a pleasure to watch, even with their slower numbers. Indeed, even their hard working silhouettes have a strange stage presence, and every member of the crowd claps along for the entire show, making sure that this band is one to watch in the near future.



Kicking off with B-Side ‘33’, the Wonder Villains make their presence known from the get go. Nobody does 2 minute infectious songs quite like these guys and girls. Single number one ‘Zola’ goes down a storm, and is perhaps one of the best singalong anthems ever witnessed in Northern Ireland since ‘Teenage Kicks’. Pop culture references crop up throughout their set, with songs such as ‘Marhsall’ (referencing the famous 'How I Met Your Mother' character) or ‘Wimbledon’ (about the world famous Tennis championship) resonating with this rather young crowd, and they aren’t shy about it. Keyboardist Cheylene provides bouncy hooks for the crowd to bop along to, while singer Eimear provides lyrics that this crowd can relate to, considering it is made up largely of students.



It’s hard to imagine a band this young feeling so confident on stage, but the Wonder Villains have clearly toured long enough to know how this game works. Next was the song that brought us all out here in the first place, their latest single ‘Ferrari,’ and considering the reaction from the crowd, it is a shining example of the Northern Irish music scene in motion.



Leigh Forgie