By Terry Marland.

On Saturday night Wrexham’s recently re-branded live music venue hosted three emerging bands at various stages of their development. First up was the young Llandudno based trio Mad Haven whose blistering set features numbers from their recent EP Light It Up and is enthusiastically received by the Wrexham audience. This band deliver a powerhouse performance that maximises every second of their 30 minute slot. Expect to see more of this fine young band.

Next its Bridgend-based band Those Damn Crows, who have received critical acclaim for their debut album Murder and the Motive on the Earache label. Known for their high-powered live performances this band have already graced the stages of various festivals and have a series of high profile dates lined up for 2019. Shane Greenhall is a charismatic front-man who has the crowd on-side from the start of their 45 minute set. The band deliver a tight performance of songs from their debut album with the crowd joining in on the chorus of the extensively air-played Blink of an Eye and customary set-closer Rock N Roll Ain’t Dead. This band have a rich pedigree and bill topping status seems imminent.

Headliners Massive Wagons, from Lancaster, take to the stage and launch straight into their turbo charged tribute to the late Rick Parfitt, Back to the Stack. It’s an energetic opening, with front man Baz Mills strutting across the small stage and swinging the mic stand around with vigour. Recent album release The Full Nelson provides many of the numbers tonight. The pace is relentless and includes many crowd favourites including Billy Balloon-Head and Ratio.

Massive Wagons are a talented outfit who thrive on teamwork and good humour which is evident in their lyrics - none more so than on China Plates which is the perfect antidote to social media obsessives and has the crowd dancing and punching the air. The mood continues until the end of the evening and the closing number Fee Fi Fo Fum that sees the audience leaving the venue knowing they have been entertained by an emerging talent. This hard-working band have had a highly successful year and embark on a tour of larger venues next year some of which have already sold out.