There was a time when to become a successful 'metal' band all you had to do was make an unholy racket and roar indecipherable lyrics over the top. Modern rock fans, however, demand more.

Opening the show tonight were London-based band Breed 77 (originally from Gibraltar) who tore up the stage with a frenzied performance which woke the crowd from their Tuesday night slumber.

They spent much of their time on stage leaping in the air and leading the crowd in flamenco-style clapping to the Latin-fused set.

One of the highlights came with beautiful ballad 'The River' taken from the 2004 album 'Cultura', during which many members of the crowd sang along and held aloft lighters in the time-honoured tradition.

After a short interval New Jersey-based Ill Nino appeared to rapturous applause and a boy of about 13 passed by my head, announcing that the crowd surfing had begun.

It would be easy to dismiss the band as just another nu-metal band on par with Linkin Park and Slipknot but there is more to them than can be detected at first impression.

The current album One Nation Underground is their most-accomplished album to date revealing musical and lyrical maturity by showing their South American roots in the structured salsa-esque rhythms and tribal drumming provided by Dave Chavarri and percussionist Danny Couto.

Cristian Machado has lots of stage presence and a great rapport with the crowd as he tells us to forget everything else (governments, school, hate, love) apart from enjoying the gig.

The set covered wide-ranging styles from melodic ballads to heavy, pounding politically charged anthems all of which were well received.

Near the end they played extracts from several classic rock/metal songs 'to prove we can play' as Cristian launched into a verbal attack on the rock journalists who had ignored, dismissed or unfairly criticised them in the past.

A rare treat to see two bands of such high calibre on the same bill at a small venue, as both bands are regulars on festivals such as Ozzfest.

Kerry McGregor, Burnout fanzine