We arrived at the Louisiana (or the Louie, for all you regulars out there) with a sense of anticipation and a stomach full of dinner-time beers.

This was becoming customary. After all, we were here just a scant few days previous to interview and bear witness to the Catfish & the Bottlemen extravaganza; an event not without anticipation. However, the purpose of tonight was different. UATM was the newest, fresh-faced showcase for Bristol bands (well, mainly Bristol bands). So as you can imagine, we were in our element (well, mostly in our element).

Band 1: In Dynamics

The collection of reasons for the above bracketed caveats were all contained within the line-up of the first band, In Dynamics, who had come all the way from Brighton to frequent our ears. These fellas were not afraid of some peculiar Mars Volta-y chords and some jerky Dillinger Escape Plan-y breakdowns. Not really the Bristol Beats Club’s kind of thing? Correct. But the singer looked like he could handle himself in a fight, so we loved them all the same.

Band 2: Evil Twin

Following our visiting friends’ uncompromising set, the home-grown talent hit the stage. It was our faves Evil Twin up first. Now, as all you full time Beat Clubbers will know, we spend more time reviewing Evil Twin than we do visiting close relatives. So as a change of pace we’ll describe, in detail, the activities of drummer Nathan Burch.

Nathan was sporting a rather fashionable lion t-shirt and his demeanour when playing, even during the most raucous moments of the set, was so laid back as to be not unlike an uncle dozing off in his chair after a satisfying Sunday roast. Check out our Evil Twin single review for a more holistic view of the band.

Band 3: Darwin Republic

Fortunately the headline act of the night was Darwin Republic, and we have no history of reviewing these guys to death. The immediate thing that struck us was their image; they all looked like they been plucked from different bands and thrown together. Needless to say, they didn’t play like it.

The band produced one hell of a sound. The vocals, in particular, stood out for us: they seemed to come from all corners of the stage – making identifying a lead singer a harder task than you might expect. What was unambiguous, though, was that Darwin Republic capped off an exciting (if not heavier than our sensitive ears are used to) evening of live music.

And surprise guests…

We should also mention (being the eagle-eyed and consummate professionals that we are) that the musical talent wasn’t just confined to the stage. A little meander about between the bands’ sets and you’d have run into members of Bridges, Towers and Aztecs (there’s another UATM line up right there). It seems as though this is where the people in the know come to discover new music. Roll on next month.