This whole day event with a total mish-mash of genres advertised itself as a "HIM fan party". What that's supposed to mean is anyone's guess, but the only connection of said band to the event is that everyone in the rather sparse audience likes them, though London HIM fans will have already had the opportunity of seeing MAB or Esoterica, both of whom played 3rd on the bill to them on consecutive nights over last year's Halloween weekend.

Esoterica's singer, barefoot and shirtless, is wrapped up some UV glow tape and does some sort of belly dance as an introduction to their set. This seems to impress many a-screaming young girl and the crowd around thr stage swells suspiciously quickly during this opening routine. Esoterica's brand of light rock is pleasant enough, but their dummed-down-A Perfect Circle sound is nothing that stands out. Lead singer, Tobias, has a shouty voice and wriggles around the stage as though he were Iggy Pop, balancing a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Before the last song in their set, Don't Rely on Anyone, he shares the meaning behind it, describing how the band were asked by record companies to change their image, but how they refused. With a singer showing his biggest talent is his six pack, and a female guitarist with a perfected pout, I found this somewhat ironic, though the song itself cannot be denied as catchy. Strangely, though, after their set the crowd seems to thin at an alarming rate, this could be attributed to the two other major gigs happening on the same evening, or maybe they were all Esoterica fans.

MAB - named after a fairy - are an all-female quartet from Italy, but live in London. As the only band of the day with a female singer, and with 2 of the members wearing white gowns, they instantly stand out but when lead singer Alice Dionis lets out her amazing voice, the venue is captivated. With roots in opera occasionally showing, she switches between banshee screams, beautiful melodies and eerie whisperings. The way Dionis stomps about the stage to songs like Aria MAB could be the missing link between Babes in Toyland-esque riot grrl and lady metal, with their blend of both styles. The sound at the Garage did not do them a great deal of justice on this occasion, with the guitars sounding muddy at times; but the girls make the best of the situation, appearing truly grateful for the attention they have recevieved from what little is left of the crowd.

This is Private Line's second performance in the UK, their first having been a support slot on the previous night. With a couple of hits under their belts in their native Finland, quite why they're in London is not clear, as their CDs are not even available here. From the opening chord, it is refreshing to hear how clear and tight their sound is compared with all the preceding acts. Their bouncy rock'n'roll is only a little more rugged than the kind of sound the Rasmus made prior to discovering black hair dye, and the singer's boundless energy and gravity-defying hair enforces this comparison. However, his rather large tattoo of the word "Nikki" and a cover of Mötley Crüe's Live Wire featuring in their set perfectly outline the sound this lot are trying to make. The worryingly youthful lead guitarist shreds out solo after solo, cigarette hanging from mouth, with undeniable skill, and the bassist does some particularly nifty finger work for a band of this style. The band give us about a full hour on stage, but the snappy songs make it pass quickly. Getting a crowd that had already been in the stuffy Garage for 7 hours moving would never be easy, particular considering most of these HIM fans have no clue who the band are, however front man Sammy somehow manages to stir some responses, hits like 1-800-Out of Nowhere and Little Sister even prompting some to sing along. The leave the stage to floods of applause knowing they have won over a few fans in London; judging from these performances, there is no reason why any of the bands at this event could not go on to achieve success, though I suspect it will be Esoterica who we will be seeing most of in future.

Overall Score:   6 /10