Due possibly to the wet and muddy weekend at Meredith, or simply because it was a Sunday night, a barely respectable crowd greeted the Black Diamond Heavies when they took the stage to open for the Datsuns last night. But by the end of the set, that crowd had probably doubled, and the Black Diamond Heavies had the full attention of every last punter in that room. Combining the drums of Van Campbell with the keys and gruff vocals of James Leg, the Black Diamond Heavies are a duo like no other. All scraggy hair and lean sweaty arms, Leg kept the rhythm with his left while his right was let loose on a variety of dirty melodies and sounds. Meantime Campbell bashed away at his kit like a rock machine, keeping pace, adding flavour and accentuating every nuance Leg had to offer. There were subtle moments, but the Black Diamond Heavies are a fucking rock band, complete with banging heads, sunglasses and everything louder than everything else. There were a variety of influences, including Tom Waits (of course), but to simplify it to that degree would be shallow. Black Diamond Heavies play the music they love, which last night included a cover of Ain’t Talking Bout Love by Van Halen (apparently inspired by their night at the Espy the previous evening). The Black Keys and certainly the White Stripes may have to go away a rethink what they are doing, for the Black Diamond Heavies are fucking outstanding. The Datsuns would have it all to do if they wanted to follow on after these guys.

It had been some time since I had last seen the Datsuns live, but recent album Headstunts had reawakened my original enthusiasm for their particular brand of rock – no fuss balls to the wall hard fucking rock, born out of the 70s, heading through the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, and outlasting grunge (whatever that means these days) to rise above a heap of lesser lights. Right from the beginning the Datsuns hit hard. Charging headlong into a set highlighting tracks mostly from recent return to form Headstunts and their debut eponymous classic, the boys quickly whipped things into a frenzy. Dolf de Borst is a great front man, whether he is playing his bass, or prowling the stage with mic in hand. Manic eyes, no small amount of ego and one of the best screams in rock, de Borst held your attention with ease. The duelling guitars of Phil Buscke and Christian Livingstone seemed to get louder with every song, whether it were soaring solos, tight, hard rhythm or infectious melody. Meantime Ben Cole beat the crap out of his kit, proving himself to be a more than adequate replacement as he showed that all great rock bands must have a great drummer.

Cramming 20 songs into 80 minutes is no mean feat, but that is exactly what the Datsuns managed to do. They hit their straps early with tracks like Hey Paranoid People (What’s In Your Head?) and Maximum Heartbreak, the foot stomping rock of Your Bones and recent single Human Error (during which Dolf turn up the guitar solo onstage whilst throwing his mic around with glee). Supports Teen Archer joined the band on stage for the raucous Highschool Hoodlums before things were briefly brought down a notch for Somebody Better. From the opening riff of Mother Fucker From Hell all bets were off, as the crowd finally went a little crazy. The groove of Harmonic Generator gave way to the frenzied Yeah Yeah Just Another Mistake before the somewhat psychedelic Eye Of The Needle brought things down a few notches to end the set. But man, when those guitars hit halfway through and the song built again to end in a haze of swirling melodies and hectic drumming, it hit you right in the chest.

There was no time for respite however, as the band we quickly back onstage for an encore bookended by classics Sittin’ Pretty and Freeze Sucker. The latter saw crowd surfing guitarists, screaming vocalists and simply insane timing from the entire band. It was a perfect end to the night, as the band made the most out every riff, every vocal line, every beat, and the crowd ate it up. Critics may have weighed in over the past couple of years, trends may have changed, but the Datsuns are back. Rock.