The only thing I knew about Stone Gods was the legacy of ‘that band’. After watching their scintillating performance tonight, I refuse to mention what they’ve left behind. Stone Gods are their own band, and its no exaggeration when I say they’ve just delivered the best set I’ve seen in 2008.

The connection between the crowd and Stone Gods was something I havent seen at the Academy for a very long time and it’s very rare that I’ll stay and watch a whole show from a band if I don’t know any of their material. Tonight though, there was an energy and raw bloody aggressiveness that kept my eyes peeled to the stage until the end.

The thing is, Newcastle is a special musical area - if a band give their all, the crowd give it back ten times over. Imagine the scene then when Richie Edwards anhilliated the stage - climbing speaker cabs? check. Stage diving? check. Playing in the middle of a mosh pit???? check. This band is going places, and soon.

So in summary - if you havent guessed - this was a great gig to shoot. 24-70 and 10-22 were used throughout as the band was pushed too close to the front of the stage for me to warrant the 70-200.