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It can be tough for a singer songwriter opening any gig. Vying for attention and fighting for volume can be intimidating and confidence sapping, but Jamie Neish puts paid to any such problems as he quickly gets the crowd on his side. Neish鈥檚 guitar style is understated and melodically effective, and his voice is strong enough so that his lyrics come through loud and clear, showing a young man with a strong sense of self assurance and a delicate touch, with couplets like, 鈥極nly 21 / all my hope is gone鈥�. With the crowd watching keenly, this set is far too short for our liking. A class act.

Next up are quartet Napoleon. Describing themselves as 鈥榙irty country鈥�, they鈥檙e more on the pop-rock end of the genre spectrum, and a fine job they make of it as well. They have a massive sound, and from the drum-led opener the energy levels are high, staying there until the end. The lads switch guitars and vocal duties smoothly, this multi-instrumentalism adding to the gig, rather than being an act of mere tokenism. All three front men are as good as each other., and with good melodies, good arrangements, good musicians and a big sound 鈥� Napoleon conquered this crowd.

Headliners, John Edgar Voe soon stride on to the stage, greeting us with 鈥淰ibrations in the minds of god鈥�, and open with a two and half minute tequila slammer rockabilly number called 鈥楾helma鈥�. It鈥檚 a great opener that gets toes tapping and the last few begrudging sitters-down onto their feet. If anyone came expecting to see the 鈥榮upergroup鈥� John Edgar Voe with a stageful of NI Music Award winners, they鈥檇 have been disappointed. The band look a little different than they do in the posters adorning the venue, but by this stage it hardly matters.

Frontman Martin Corrigan is an interesting character, not short of confidence, and with a unique vocal delivery. It鈥檚 this delivery that helps take songs that are from a different time and place and allows them to sit comfortably in Belfast in 2011, avoiding accusations of twee corniness. There鈥檚 always a danger of this style of music being denounced as derivative and trite, but John Edgar Voe manage to avoid such accusations.

Onwards they bound with recurring strands popping up throughout the set - death, murder, love and hate amongst them. The highlight of the set is 鈥楬ighwayman鈥�, a tale of stealing the heart of a woman, possessing an idiosyncratic guitar style 鈥� a clanging chord which pops up in the chorus and is gone almost as soon as it arrives is very affecting.听

Each song is a short sharp story. 鈥楯ericho鈥� tells of a man banished to the hills who learns some 鈥榤urdering skills鈥� that he鈥檚 going to bring back to town to avenge his tormentors, and gig closer 鈥楾he Conscript鈥� is a tale of a man who has aspirations higher than his incarcerated station; 鈥淭he world won鈥檛 鈥榓 seen the likes 鈥榓 me before鈥� sang Corrigan. And with that the gig was over.

Some fine 鈥楩ermanicana鈥� on display tonight from John Edgar Voe - a band worth seeing again.

Owen McNulty