I had heard a great deal about Set Your Goals preluding to this gig, funnily enough exclusively from the male gender of my friends. Well, it's not that funny really if you think about it; an American punk band with elements of hardcore and screamo? Sounds pretty testosterone aimed to me. A friend of mine (male) even cited a gig they did back in 2007 at The Peel as 'the best show of my life', and he knows his shit. So needless to say, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

The support acts warmed the surprisingly teenage (and gender mixed!) crowd up sweetly, hit acts being This City, who were just utterly awesome in their energy and drive (definitely a band I shall be checking out again). When Set Your Goals finally took to the stage, the contagious excitement and expectation of the crowd was palpable. They broke straight in with current album title track and incidentaly first track off the album "This will be the death of us", creating an unpolished mix of movement, confusion and passion, all at once, super fast. At first I wasn't sure what to make of it, it just seemed to be too much going on at the same time, and I found myself trivially focusing on whether the vocals sounded in key and whether the music was as tight as in the record, but I soon realised I was looking at it completely the wrong way. The vocals weren't perfect, everything was a little sloppy, technically, but what made their set so thrillingly rip roaring was the sheer force of energy and passion behind it. There was so much going on between the six member band on that tiny, tiny stage of the Garage it almost made your head spin, but the beauty of it was that they actually were all in sync, chaotically in sync, and it simply worked.

Personal set high lights were 'The Fallen', an impressive song in its own right which further excelled in a live performance. 'Summer Jam' for its feel good qualities that transcended even better live after a messy bank holiday / Reading weekend (just what the doctor ordered!), and finally set closers, 'Dead Men Tell No Tales' leading harmoniously and cleverly into final set track 'Mutiny!', their biggest single to date and the first track taken from their debut album of said title. The crowd adored it.

All in all it was a fantastic set, the polar opposite of many bands breaking big at the moment where there is a clear distinct line between them and their fans. Set Your Goals embraced the genuine deep affection the audience engulfed upon them, and didn't act all demi God about it. Everyone had fun, and I left hearing all around me mutterings of 'the best gig of 2009'.

Bravo.