Part of a mini All Hallows Eve festival, the Underworld was decked out with pumpkin lanterns to add to the normal scary dary ambience. Four bands tonight and we start off with ...

Earthling Society, tipped by arch space druid Julian Cope. They play an accessible space rock as if Pink Floyd were starting fresh today, psychedelic guitars and keyboards with heavy rhythm fro the drums and bass. They kinda set the scene for the rest of the evening.

Gentlemans Pistols followed with a refreshing brand of hard rock, proper hard rock, not glitz and hairspray, but beards and groove. Recreating the 70's with the sounds akin to the behemoths of the day they played tunes from their debut cd on Rise Above Records and tried out a few new ones. Don't bother fretting over the cost of Led Zep tickets, just go see this lot, Out of the Eye, Mistress Mistrust and the Dazed & Confused-style Heavy Petting are full on hard rock played hard.

After another quick turn around Litmus took the stage and slowly cranked up starship Litmus. Martin, in his suit, bass guitar and chugging his bottle of wine, cuts a fine figure as a front man, and although hampered by technical pedal problems on the guitar they still flung us into orbit. Don't think that space rock is a hippy dippy nicety, it is LOUD crunching pounding relentless rhythms with screaming psychedelic organ and effects and not for the faint hearted. They treated us to slabs from their new cd 'Planetfall' on Rise Above (again), Martin apologising for the technical problems, but thanking us for turning out on a Sunday night and supporting underground music. Yes indeed, this is where it's at!

The headliners have a story to tell. Leaf Hound released their 1971 lp 'Growers of Mushroom' after they had split, Peter French going on to front Atomic Rooster for a bit, then Cactus ... the mist of time turned their long forgotten lp into a collectors piece, exchanging hands for �2000! Obsessive fans encouraged Peter to get back in the saddle, so a new line up was born, 'Growers' was rereleased, and new cd 'Unleashed' is ... unleashed. Their brand of 70s hard rock peppered with reference to the Who, Cream and other heavy weights like Sabbath et al ignited the flame in many a heavy rock band. Classics such as Freelance Fiend and Growers of Mushroom sit comfortably along with new tracks Nickels & Dimes and Overtime.

Front man Peter enjoyed himself tonight with such a warm and positive crowd, and I for one thought this four band line up was one of the best I've ever seen.

So all you grown up 70s cool cats, check the loft, and if you find a vinyl 'Growers of Mushroom', don't put it on ebay, dust it off and listen to it...