The Subways

RICHARD BALLS

> Norwich Arts Centre

Graduates from the Class of 1976 would be proud.

Three teenagers burst out of English suburbia, all punk noise and indestructible spirit, and begin a breakneck rise to prominence.

Their first 45 propels them into the Top 30, a second is on the way, and Ian Broudie (The Zutons, The Coral, Echo & The Bunnymen) is producing an album. Oh, and Glastonbury guru Michael Eavis has invited them to play this year's opening slot.

No surprise that last night's appearance had long been sold out.

So, in a few years' time, will we be recalling how we were there the night The Subways played to a small crowd at the Arts Centre?

On this evidence - without doubt.

For a three-piece band, whose eldest member is 20, they pack a punch of which Mike Tyson would be proud. Musically they are tight, visibly they catch the eye and they have all the credentials to go on to be a major band.

Ash comparisons will be inevitable, but this incendiary device arguably has more explosive qualities. The first chords of the hit single, Oh Yeah, brought devotees rushing towards the stage; Rock 'n' Roll Queen made for an explosive climax.

This band are going to be massive.