NewBlood's Halloween gig certainly was a spooky affair on the 25th and again one of the busiest I have seen so far. Indeed, many people were turned away on the door as the venue had reached its maximum capacity. The ghouls on show for this concert were Danny Arrowsmith, 3 Foot Ninja, Arsenal of Freedom and 2 Many Units.

Danny Arrowsmith is a veteran of the music scene and armed with his guitar and voice alone proved to be a strong opening act. The second band of the night was 3 Foot Ninja who for me could have been my favorite act of the evening. I thought the band were really strong although admittedly I thought I had come to see the Arctic Monkeys at one point. For me the most impressive point of this act was Jordan Bells vocal talent. He proved to be a brilliant frontman for this act and his great voice complimented the bands lively riffage and performance. I would definitely go and watch them again and hopefully they will be playing higher up the lineup if the play at the forum in the future.

The penultimate group to play was metal band Arsenal of Freedom. I am not a fan of this genre I must admit but really loved listening to the boys from Newton Aycliffe and it seemed so did the audience. The circle pit that was formed as their set progressed is definitely a testimonial to this. The band have obviously spent a lot of time polishing their act, the musical performance was very tight and solid. I was more impressed by the lead singer also playing the drums. Neither vocals nor rhythm suffered from this although it perhaps hindered the degree to which the drummer could perform. Musically I thought the band was excellent, the melody and harmony from guitars definitely sustained a high standard throughout and I was not bored of listening at one point. Arsenal of Freedom could have been a professional band in my opinion and I would have easily watched a much longer performance from them.

Local punk rockers 2 Many Units were the final act of the evening and were eagerly anticipated by the younger members of the audience. They certainly gained a good cheer when they came on stage! The band gave a great performance but did really not live up to my expectations. It is true to say that they easily had the most energetic performance of the evening and did not falter through their 45 minute set. Jonsie, the bands drummer definitely provided additional amusement with his sword swallowing antics, a nice touch to the theme of the evening. 2 Many Units definitely have the personality to live up to the image they have created for themselves since their conception in 2005, I feel though that the band could be better if they concentrated less on hair gel and image and more on the music. In small doses 2 Many Units have the potential for greatness but after a catalogue of similar sounding songs I felt a tad weary. True, the songs played were well written; I especially enjoyed their House of the Rising Sun cover, but they did not really inspire me to want to hear more.

This NewBlood was a really good evening, I thought the team did a great job and managed to secure a great line up. If I had been organising the event I may have ordered the bands in a different way and perhaps gone for age over beauty instead. On the whole though, a rather enjoyable time was had by all!

Jamie Rutherford