The Islington O2 Academy has to be one of my favourite venues. It's large enough for decent groups to get gigs and a good crowd, but small enough that people at the back are miles away. From a photographer's point of view, the lighting is decent enough to get some pretty good shots (unlike some venues, who seem to keep the bands in near darkness for their sets, making the photographers' jobs quite a lot harder)…  The biggest issue for me was that I had to do a quick exit a few songs before headliners INME finished their epic set, so this will be as complete as possible.

Opening this gig was a band that I've been wanting to see for a while. Anyone who plays guitar/likes guitars/watches guitar playing videos on YouTube will be familiar with the work of a man called ROB CHAPMAN and his band DORJE. Having followed their exploits and previous doings online, their gig as support was a pretty cool moment. DORJE play a very groovy kind of heavy rock-metal with lots of great guitar playing and tight, rhythmic riffs. Their set, a mere 5 songs long, comprised of tracks off their recently released EP CATYLYST. Their set here was heavy hitting, and sounded incredibly fat for the size of their equipment. Going onstage with the obvious intention to win over some fans who may not have previously heard of their music, DORJE were great in their supporting role. With tracks like "Aeromancy" with its crushing groove going down a storm, and their cover section of RATM's "Bullet in the Head" blending in with their last single release "White Dove" really starting to get the crowd moving. I can't wait to see a full set by these guys at some point in the future.