Arriving at Magna, just five minutes from Meadowhall, you’d be easily forgiven for wondering were the gig was supposed to be. You entered via the museum doorway only to find the souvenir shop missing, then were left to follow a long series of signs that seemed to go on for miles. I was half expecting to finally get through a door only to find myself back in the car park but instead was blessed with a huge cavern like room, bar at one end and stage at the other and complete darkness in between. Like everyone else in the building we walked arms out-stretched hoping there were no steps on route and eventually found a spot at the stage.

After a short waiting time the first band of the night, Century Kids, took to the stage. An interesting start to the evening with good solid drumwork, heavy basslines and driving lead guitar, but what really makes this group stand out is the vocal duet. Having two singers complement each other so well is quite a rarity but these guys made it look easy. You found yourself singing along to tracks like ‘Kinda Cool’ and ‘Stay For Me’ which was their last song of the night. All the while bouncing from one side of the stage to another, playing to the whole crowd, they were a great way to kick start the evening.

Next up, and at this point it has to noted that the band changes were extremely slick. No sooner had one finished then they were unplugged, the next lot plugged in and away we went again, as I was saying next up was The Tivoli. Not so much an indie band, more of a rock/indie experience reminding me of early Muse. Lead singer Lee McMahon took centre stage, in fact at times dominated the stage from this vantage point, but it didn’t distract from the music one bit. Ranging from thought provoking to danceable tunes it was quite an impressive set to fill their half hour slot, both powerful and confident they come across as a truly professional act.

Alvarez Kings were the next group of the night and with quite a local following received a warm welcome from the crowd. Unfortunately during their set the sound system started to play up but undaunted they carried on with a good collection of punchy tunes and strong lyrics. The Alvarez kings can easily hold their own against any band as was obvious from the banter between Simon, lead vocals, and various members of the audience. From the thumping sound of ‘You Me Them Us’ to the gentler melody of ‘Picking Up The Pieces’ the crowd loved it and any newcomers joined in knowing they had found something special.

All good things must come to an end and sure enough Alvarez Kings had to make way for Wolverhampton’s very own The Lines. Any follower of LMT will by now be familiar with their sound and they didn’t fail to live up to their deservedly huge following. From the outset their energy exploded onto the stage pounding their self styled interstellar music into the farthest corners of the venue. With front man Alex running the length and breadth of the stage making sure the entire crowd were joining in to this near psychedelic onslaught you’d be fooled into thinking you were watching the headline act. Winding up their all too brief set, the quickest half hour of my life, was the showpiece ‘Loudmouth’, consisting of Alex beating out a military tattoo while whipping the crowd into a frenzy. The crowd bayed for more but alas it was not to be as we finally reached the headline act of the night Little Man Tate!

With a rapturous welcome and a huge backdrop Jon, Maz, Ben and Dan entered the stage immediately launching into Money Wheel. From here on the crowd were uncontrollable, all the favourites from both albums were played as well as the latest single ‘I Am Alive’. Any fan old or new couldn’t have asked for a better set to welcome them back to the stage, it was like they’d never stopped touring. Jon, as always, loves to chat and between stories about various songs stopped to apologise for some of their poorer appearances in the past, ironic really considering that this time round he forgot the words to the LMT anthem ‘House Party At Boothys’. Still as a way of apology we were all treated to an extra track, the old classic ‘Down On Marie’. The crowd lapped it up regardless, singing along to virtually every track, and with crowdsurfers coming in from every direction you could tell it was a good night out. Despite the big time venue you got the impression that this was more of an intimate gig, this has always been the trademark of a LMT performance and tonight the crowd wasn’t let down. My only beef with the whole thing was that due to the huge lighting backdrop poor Dan was left in complete darkness, in fact you could barely make him out as a shadow in the background.

All said and done it was a great night out in a cold, dark venue lit up by great performances all round.