Being born from the ashes of British rock bands Thunder and Winterville, songs such as 'Step Up To The Plate' carry on the hard-rock torch, whilst slower songs such as Saviour really show off lead singer Peter Shoulder’s voice. Veteran guitarist Luke Morley calls upon his experiences of playing in Belfast with his previous outfit and reckons they’re the best audience he’s ever played to. This rattles the crowd, who despite a bit of a lukewarm response to begin with, are now out to prove him right and it’s at this stage that The Union realise that they just might have made quite a few new fans with tonight’s performance.

It’s quite clear that local heroes The Answer have the home advantage as the Mandela fills to capacity for tonight’s second headline act. Kicking off with New Day Rising, immediately the crowd goes into a frenzy. What follows could almost be described as a ‘best of’ set from across The Answer’s three album career. Under the Sky, Come Follow Me and Trouble are all it takes to set of a mosh pit and it becomes obvious that there are more than a few die-hard Answer-ites in the audience tonight.

From a slower, alternative version of the band’s latest single 'Nowhere Freeway' to the word perfect singalong chanting of 'Vida (I Want You)', there are plenty of highlights in tonight's fantastic show. However, I don’t think any of them could compare to the brutality that came with 'Preachin’. Singer Cormac Neeson as usual had no bones about getting up close and personal with his loyal fans as he swam through a sea of beer and sweat drenched bodies. Making his way to the middle of the venue, barely pausing to catch his breath, he gets on his knees and raises hands in the air. The rock and roll equivalent of the Pied Piper, the entire crowd around him follows suit, gets on their knees in pure awe and hangs on his every word.

As the set draws to a close, Cormac thanks the audience and believes that The Answer wouldn’t have come as far as they have done without the support of their fans. Perhaps what Cormac doesn’t realise, however, is that it’s a quid-pro-quo relationship. As long The Answer keep knocking out truly exceptional performances such as tonight’s, then the fans will just keep on coming. Bravo.

Leigh Forgie

(pic Carrie Davenport. See full gallery here.)