Some shows you’re kind of taken aback by the crowd reaction at a gig. It’s great to see the Waiting Room busy for what I think would be fair to call the younger end of Colchester’s talented music scene. Mostly, as I walk through the door to the sound of James Burrage and band, everyone is going nuts for the keyboard player who, to be fair, is absolutely wailing on those keys. I last caught the band at Three Wise Monkeys a few months prior and they’re still on form, the tightness of the band incredible.

Next up, Chasin Vegas, who’d played the Waiting Room the previous month for a Paper Champion show. They sound like a band who have aspirations of playing arenas, in the way they sound and the way they present themselves, but until that day floor shows like this are an energetic way to spend a night. The strength of their performance matched with an adoring fanbase, I’m sure they won over plenty of new fans on that night.

Rounding off the show (organiser Ben Howard claims all his shows are showcases, a sort of co-co-co-headliner thing) was the job of Off The Wall, who were there to release their new single Marvel Superhero into the wild. They sounded as big on the night as they did on record, the guitars sounding huge while the Waiting Room sounds the best it’s ever sounded. The mosh pit was somewhat energetic, one person having to step outside due to drawing blood. Over the top pit aside though, Off The Wall put on a hell of a show, really drawing the relatiely young crowd into the preceedings in the process, the well practiced songs performed to a tee. It was so good that the crowd demanded an encore, the band performing their new single again to raptuous praise. Great stuff.