The 2015 Pure Rawk Awards

This is an a event I always look forward to. Once again it has sold out in advance. This show supporting underground rock music has been going for nine years now and is always good fun! Like last year the venue is the Boston Arms Music Room in (Nigel) Tufnell Park - a nice venue apart from the now far too expensive bar prices. It used to be very reasonably priced until a year or so ago, but they won't be taking much of my money now - I was told a bottle of Hobgoblin was £4.80! Pity there isn't a Wetherspoons round the corner for a few crafty pints before/after the show. The only place nearby is Aces & Eights which is a non-starter for ale drinkers and isn't cheap even for it's generic lagers. Still, it's virtually opposite a tube station which is always a bonus - only £1.50 from High Barnet to Tufnell Park - same as the bus fare!

First act of the evening is the highly entertaining Chris Catalyst. The Eureka Machines frontman is playing a short solo acoustic set - this goes some way to making up for me not being able to get into a packed downstairs bar at BrewDog at last year's Camden Rocks festival to see him play a similar set.

Chris has no problem holding a crowd's attention on his own and is a much better singer than most people realise. It doesn't hurt that he also has a rich selection of Eureka Machines songs to pick from which are already familiar to many in the crowd. Chris's natural charisma and humorous banter ensure everybody is well entertained - even when some technical problems mean his guitar cuts out and this 'acoustic' performance does indeed become genuinely acoustic! This is excellent fun - I highly recommend seeing Chris with the brilliant Eureka Machines when they return to 'that London' to play at the Camden Rocks Festival this May.

After being well entertained by Chris Catalyst the first batch of Pure Rawk awards are presented - for a full list of who won what click here.

Next act is one of last year's Pure Rawk Award winners Mr Shiraz. Their brand of punk/funk/hardcore/metal doesn't do much for me personally, but they play well and there is plenty of energy of stage - possibly added to by the fact that their frontman Mikey Shiraz has just won the 'Promoter of The Year' award for his work at The Parish in his home town of Huddersfield. He and his band have obviously brought a good crowd with them from home judging by the support they get tonight and every time Yorkshire is mentioned!

Although this band don't really float my boat, they obviously float a whole fleet of other boats as they won an award last year as well as being nominated for others this year.

More awards are presented and then we get the next band - also from Yorkshire, in fact also from Huddersfield! This is Tropical Contact. I knew virtually nothing about this band beforehand apart from the fact that Ginger Wildheart had recommended them. I hadn't seen them before or even heard any of their music so was seeing them totally 'cold'. Don't be fooled by appearances - this lot ROCK! Like West Country band Tax The Heat this band dress up smart but rock hard - as I discovered at the Camden Rocks Festival last year.

This lot manage to win a Pure Rawk Award this year as well - it's almost like there is some sort of Yorkshire conspiracy going on as at least six of this year's winners are from that fine county! I have to say I was very impressed by Tropical Contact's performance tonight and their award was well deserved. Not only did they perform very well (my band of the night in spite of strong competition from Essex) but their songs are very strong too. This is a band I definitely intend to see again - I didn't see them when they played last year's Camden Rocks Festival but along with Eureka Machines they will be essential viewing at 2015's festival.

More award presentations and then it's the band I have most been looking forward to tonight - it's the very welcome return of Zen Motel.

I am not the only person present who has been looking forward to seeing this band tonight - I see many familiar faces from past years. What makes seeing this band's return even better is that it's almost a full return to the original lineup of the band. After various lineup changes over the years and band members moving to other parts of the country (and one even being deported!) things have been very quiet on the Zen Motel front for the past year or so, although the band have never actually split up. Tonight's short but sweet set contains many of the bands old favourites like the ever popular 'Rocket 69' and 'Devil Song' from the early days, the rarely heard 'Sweet 13', to 'Dress Code Violence' and 'Last Night Of The English Pigs' from the excellent 'Stations of the Dead' album' and newer songs like 'Kill Your Radio' and 'Curse Of The Girlfiend' form the latest 'We Want Your Blood' album - available for free on the merch stand tonight.

It's great to see this band back from the wastelands of Essex and it looks like they will be appearing more regularly this year although they will be picking their gigs more carefully instead of just playing everywhere....

More awards and then it's on to the final band of the night.

Exit International are another Ginger recommended band, but unlike Tropical Contact I don't really 'get' them. They have a big sound (for a 3 piece) and plenty of energy, but no real songs that stand out. Maybe I'm missing something but they just didn't do much for me.

So, that's the Pure Rawk Awards over for another year. A great night as usual with some excellent bands, loads of friends and a terrific atmosphere - see you next year for the 10th anniversary show then? I'm sure it will be a cracker!