Having reviewed their debut album "Broken Side Of Time" previously, I was really looking forward to catching Alberta Cross on their UK tour. I drove over to Manchester on Sunday afternoon, during the drive I had "Broken Side Of Time" playing at high volume. I picked my mate up, and proceeded by car to the city centre. The Arndale multi story car park is right across the road from the Ruby Lounge, and as an added bonus it costs just £3 for up to 4 hours on a Sunday!

The Ruby Lounge is, as the title suggests just that, complete with sofas, armchairs and coffee tables. It's not so small it seems crowded with 20 people in it, indeed, there was adequate space for the audience. The two support bands, The Travellin' Band and Bicycle Thieves played to limited numbers, but both acts were polished and well received. The audience at this stage started to swell somewhat towards the end of the latter's set, ready for the main event of the evening.

Alberta Cross kicked off with 'Taking Control,' from "Broken Side Of Time," in fact, just about the whole set was the album, played in a different order. All were impeccably performed, the exceptions being 'Ramblin' Home' and their first encore 'Lucy Rider.' The sound was excellent, the band were really well rehearsed. I could get to the front easily, always a bonus when taking photographs! The lighting was low, I haven't discovered anyway round this yet, I was using 1/20th second shutter speed, so I was glad the crowd was small. I used flash as little as possible, flash just destroys all the effect lighting has, I learned a lot about my camera, and my results are improving.

The band performed two songs as an encore, before leaving us to return to the bar, or, visiting the merch stand, which was staffed by some of the band. T-shirts were a very affordable £5 and the album was available on both CD and vinyl.

An excellent night, expect to find them on a big stage soon.