In a line, Above Them's live show as a heady mix of old-school punk with a rich vein of pure melody thrown in for good measure. These guys never fail to impress and as a storming rip through "For Those Who Paved The Way" showed, they still have plenty of bite to go with their gritty bark. This band look set to pack an even bigger punch in years to come.

The Front Bottoms brought a change of tone but not a change of pace to the evening; ther quirky, danceable pop went down a storm, with engaging frontman Brian Sella having the crowd eating from the palm of his hand on favourites like "The Beers".

It's the mark of a great band that they'll come to a venue and play the Bouncing Souls off the stage. It's the mark of a great band full of great people that they'd get robbed here, then return to the same venue and the same city little more than six months later. With all of the nonsense that the city has put the band through in recent times, it was no surprise that there was an air of catharsis about the night when Manchester came to say sorry to The Menzingers.

And you know, there was a pretty raucous punk show somewhere in there, too. Roaring runs through the likes of "Rivalries" and "Burn After Writing" provided a potent mix of old and new and even when the pace dropped for "On The Impossible Past" the room was still full of raised arms and more voices than a wet Thursday in Manchester really ought to provide.

With more than a clutch of songs that lend themselves to the explosive, it was little wonder that band and crowd were on fire throughout, especially on album opener "Good Things" and an ecstatic encore befitting of one of the bands of 2012. Marvellous.