Despite being around for eight years, tonight Title Fight have chosen The Star & Garter, one of Manchester's smaller venues, to deliver an amazing show. Opening, The River Card completes a set of fast tempo energy ridden songs before main support act, Basement, humbly take the stage.

Basement are on their way to big things, and a few people in the crowd tonight understand this. With the band currently organising a tour with Daylight and Such Gold across the United States, as far as the UK hardcore scene goes, they're doing pretty well. Needless to say, a majority of each of the crowds on this tour seem to have acquired knowledge of every line, which is impressive considering their album 'I Wish I Could Stay Here' was released less than a week ago. 'White Elephant' and 'Plan To Be Surprised' remain favourites, however; almost creating the impression that this band is the headlining act. Following other acts The Lock and Key and Stay Home in Leeds, then The Recovery in Glasgow, Basement thank each band for playing, before departing.

As the blackboard signs outside the bar of the venue informed, tonight's show is sold out. It's pretty obvious too, considering a proportion of the crowd are actually stage-side for Title Fight: not even out of choice. Saying this, during the entire set, there isn't a moment that an opportunity to stage dive goes amiss. Introducing the set with 'No One Stays At The Top Forever', the band has perfected the ratio of old to new songs. Each night, singer Ned steps up to the microphone and slowly announces "Shed" prior to the rest of the band bursting into one of the highlights from the impeccable full length of the same name they released earlier this year.

It's obvious from their stage presence that these four guys aren't overly confident, instead of stopping for idle chat, they continue through tracks from every release, until 'Safe In Your Skin' - which they announce in Manchester, Leeds, and Glasgow is "for Basement". The set list alters ever so slightly during each of the three nights. Manchester embraces 'Where Am I?´, Leeds 'Western Haikus' and Glasgow demand they get to hear "One more tune!" which results in the guys standing looking at each other in decision. This, of course, results in them succumbing to Scotland's needs as they return to their instruments to announce that they'll play "a new one, because we're not in Scotland too often" before completing their appearance with 'Crescent Shaped Depression'.

Although the staff of King Tuts Wah Wah Hut are the only of the three venues to resurrect a barrier for this band, it doesn't stop one guy from landing on the stage due to perhaps a little too much energy. 'You Can't Say Kingston Doesn't Love You', 'Memorial Field', 'Symmetry' and well, every other song they play, receive the same reaction each time, which only helps make us wonder what a show in their hometown of Kingston, Pennsylvania must be like

By Vicky Forster.