Review by Lawrence Reid, County Hotel Selkirk, February 2005.

Saturday night in Selkirk promised much and delivered even more! A chance to see Straight Shooter and furthermore give the opportunity for two young bands to play live - through a big PA to an appreciative audience.

First up were The Sexy Young Assassins; a four piece band covering numbers old and new - and doing it with style and energy. From their opening number, the old Clash favourite London’s Calling, they showed they could put their own mark on a well known song. They have only been together since last October. However, they played with the confidence of a band that enjoyed being on stage together. Their line up is Maff Riddle on guitar and lead vocals, Danny Norwich guitar, Stuart Gentleman on Bass and Fraser "Rug" Brotherstone on Drums. Their set included songs by the Stones, Jet, Nirvana, Hawkwind and the Kings of Leon amongst others, and were all received enthusiastically by the crowd - who called them back for an encore of Freebird.

A quick change-over and on came The Reckoning. Their set was a much heavier one, opening with Metallica’s Enter Sandman, then going on with numbers by Slayer, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath etc. They have been together now around a year and know how to keep their audience moving and cheering for more. Kris Anderson (Drums) and Lewis Elliot (Bass) provided a very solid platform for Sean Weir (guitar) and James Baxter (guitar) to play on, with Andrew McDougal‘s providing the voice and stage presence. They were also called back for an encore - and they obliged with their version of Am I Evil.

Last (but certainly not least) Straight Shooter took the stage - straight into The Zep classic Rock ‘n’ Roll - and they did!! Zander moves effortlessly through differing styles of lead guitarist from Jimmy Page to Angus Young via Gary Moore and others, and played all with panache. Mike’s drum kit is so big and powerful that when mixed with Bill’s rock solid bass that you forget there are only three instruments on stage. Added to that John’s vocals have to be one of the most powerful on the circuit as he went through their set.:

Rock'n'roll	Led Zeppelin
Bad Motor Scooter	Montrose
Inside	Stiltskin
Stand here with me	Creed
Place your hands	Reef
Empty Rooms	Gary Moore
NIB	Black Sabbath
Li'l Devil	Cult
No matter what	Badfinger
Love Potion #9	Tygers
Highway to Hell	ACDC
Rocks	Primal Scream
Whole Lotta Rosie	ACDC

The faces of the young, aspiring musicians watching them with open mouths tell it all. As one young guitarist said to me after their set ‘they make it look so easy’. Like their two support bands before them any minor errors mattered not a jot as what we got was a Rock set that can only really be appreciated live!

A mixed audience of Teenagers and Adults had a great night of live music—and many of the former must have had very sore necks for a couple of days from all the head banging. Two young bands with promise and one of more ‘mature’ men who need to be heard more. Roll on their next gig in this neck of the woods  (The Bridge Bar, Galashiels 18th March -Ed).

Lawrence