You would think that if you arrive at a gig around 2 hours early, there would be no one there, at all, but on this occaision there was already a bit of a cue gathered to see Nu-metal females from the States, Kittie. Whilst waiting in the cue you can hear Kittie playing one of their songs through for a sound check, god knows what song it was though. Then after Kittie's soundcheck, and the cue expanding a lot, you can hear punk rythyms, and lots of wo'os coming from inside the QMU, making it sound like the Bouncing Souls or something were on. Anyway, we got in about half an hour early, at 7, although the doors to the actual concert hall part of the building weren't open till 7:30, so off to the bar it was, although you couldnt get sold unless you could show i.d outside to be stamped, so the majority of the crowd weren't getting sold. So after a while of fucking about in the bar, 7:30 came along, and the doors were open downstairs, so off we all went.

Keeking in to the merch bit, you can see Nerve t-shirts, Nerve being a pop-punk band from Glasgow, that have recently built themselves quite a good fan base around the UK, able to pack out decent size venues with their own headlining shows, and also getting onto the Extreme 2001 bill in the SECC. So about 5 minutes after being in the concert hall, three piece Nerve take to the stage and burst into Better Off Alone, which is a great opener, although it doesn't get a pit going on this occasion. As Nerve progress through their set of distinctible pop-punk, the crowd gradually materialises, until it turns into one of those daft pits where 5 guys have a huge space and start to hug each other, so most people go to the side and just watch the band. They then play us, what i believe is a new song, called 'Taking The Easy Way', which is due to be on their first full length album. They then close with All I Want Is You, which is weird because they would normally end with F.O.A.D (aka - Fuck Off And Die), but Nerve go down fairly well for a pop-punk band in a room full on nu-metallers, on with the rest of the show.

Next up, hardcore metal band, also from the States, Shadows Fall, who take ages to perfect their sound, and are standing around on stage for ages jiggering about with their amps and guitar tunings. After they are perfected, the singer, with quite possibly the coolest hair ever, in the form of arse long, thick dreads, walks calmly out on stage looking very confident. Now if one band knows how to open a show right, it's this one, they literally explode into one of the hardest and heaviest song's ive heard in a long time. Their set continues with songs sounding almost the same, the usual Slayer influenced music, lots of amazing guitar solos, heavy fast drum beats, and loud strong vocals. Their set also continues without very much talking, with the exception of when they describe to us how they almost werent able to make it, and couldn't pull through without us guys, and the rets of the talking is just a pleasant thank you after every song. And then their set draws to an end after not too long onstage, so bye bye shadows fall see you next time!

And now, the moment we had all been waiting for, although it did take a somewhat long time for them to get set up. But after half an hour or so, a dark figure can be seen taking to the drums at the back, obviously in Mercedes, which means Kittie, woo! So Mercedes give's us a drum intro, then the rest of the band take to the stage, and now comes the only downside to Kittie, they, unlike Shadows Fall, need a good teaching of how to open a show, as they start with a really slow and draggy song, which still gets a bit of atmosphere going. Their set continues, once again, like Shadows Fall, without saying very much at all, but it's all good, they're playing pretty well, although Morgan's voice isn't up to much, because on Cd, she has one of the best, and most powerful voices around. The show goes on, Kittie playing some of their best songs, such as Charlotte, and In Winter, and that was about as much of the show that I personally saw, as I left to get my bag from the cloakroom before there was a huge que of people there, and although I was intending to get back inside to see the remainder of the set, Nerve guitarist and singer was at the Merch booth, along with the Nerve manager, so me and my mate went and spoke to them for the last 15 minutes or so of the set, and I invested in the Nerve setlist. From the merch booth, we can hear them playing Brackish, which is quite possitively the Best Kittie song, and I only wish that I could've been inside to witness it. But can't have everything. They then play a couple more, and then leave us. Whilst waiting to be let out, the band walk past us, although seem to want a break, so don't take on any of anyone's attempts to talk to them.

Overall, not a classic gig, although it could've been, had it of been in a better venue, like the Garage, where they won't ATTEMPT to break up mosh pits, and where they will allow crowd surfing. Kittie were definetly better in Garage, last time, when they played with Static X, which was an all out classic gig, and they also still had Falon, as apose to a bald bloek with a massive beard!

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