Anyone For Panamania?

Monday night, upstairs at Auntie Annie's on Belfast's Dublin Road. It's been a year since I saw The Panama Kings at this same venue. Back then, it was a mid-ranking bill, no major promises. But they had a tremendous jolt in the tunes, they carried themselves with grubby aplomb and Niall was roaring well.

I've seen them a dozen times since and their rise has been steady. Tonight they will mark the pending arrival of the new single 'Children' by playing new songs, trashing the drum kit and inviting their appreciative punters back to a party on Eglantine Avenue.

DJ and mixer Alex Metric is in the crowd, looking properly entertained, ahead of a studio collaboration with the band. Longstanding fanboys are screaming out lyrics, balancing on each other's shoulders and having royal fun. The PKs now have English management. One of them is Matthew Priest, occasional drummer with Dodgy. This is essentially a good thing.

The gig also works as a social club for the indie subculture. I see bits of Ed Zealous, The Cutaways, Tracer AMC, The Lowly Knights, Desert Hearts, Sparks Fly, Robyn G Shields, the No Dancing Team, Three Tales, the AU gang plus sundry bloggers, designers, chancers and twitter-heads. Critical mass, and then some.