The Diamond Bar is a back-street boozer in the small Northern-Irish village of Ahoghill - hardly the place you'd expect to see one of the most exciting up and coming rock bands the UK has to offer. GLYDER hail from the Republic, but were up over the border for a couple of shows, debuting material from their forthcoming second album 'The Playground for Life'. GLYDER take the musical direction of THIN LIZZY, and add to it a strong hint of modern rock, making for a very enjoyable listen.

The set tonight was a terrific showcase of GLYDER's undoubted talent. Playing for the best part of two hours, the set featured virtually the whole of GLYDER's aweome self-titled debut record, alongside all but one of the songs from the brand new album. Also, at the end of the night, there was a couple of THIN LIZZY covers to ensure that the local boozers were sent home happy. RORY GALLAGHER's 'Shadowplay' also provided a nice surprise thrown in the middle.

Seeing the band for the first time, the best songs from the debut album sounded tremendous in the live environment. 'P.U.P', 'Neutral Coloured Life' and 'Die or Dance' were my personal highlights and the decent sized attendance seemed to enjoy them equally as much. As for the new material - well, it went down very well indeed. Often when a band plays so much unfamiliar material, a gig can quickly descent to boredom, but that just didn't happen tonight. The new material seems to head in a slightly different direction than the debut album, even if the meat and potatoes of the band's sound has remained the same. The main differences I noticed were lesser reliance on THIN LIZZY style guitar harmonies, with many interchanges between faster riffing, and more slowed-down melodic parts.

Frontman Tony Cullen leads the cavalry confidently, whilst still able to deliver a solid performance on bass, complimenting his subtle, yet powerful Phil Lynott style vocals. The dual lead guitar attack of Pete Fisher and Bat slices through GLYDER's sound like a knife through warm butter. They team up superbly well on the harmonies, and both a capable of top-drawer solos, with the latter having a guitar sound smoother than the Daimond Bar's pint of Guiness - reminiscent of the legendary Gary Moore.

Overall, this was an excellent gig and well worth the trip over to the Emerald Isle. GLYDER are band on the verge of following the recent success story of fellow Irish rockers THE ANSWER. Hopefully, some high profile support slots will follow the release of the new album (out in November), and this should propel the band to the bigger and better things that they so thoroughly deserve.

Rating 4.7/5.0

James Allman