On a wet and cold Friday night one of the best small gig venues in Leeds ‘The Cockpit’ was crammed with gig-goers waiting to see American band ‘Funeral Party’: the name ‘Funeral Party’ taken from a song by ‘The Cure’ of the same name.

Support tonight came from London-based band ‘Flashguns’. When I arrived at The Cockpit ‘Flashguns’ were playing the last two songs of their seemingly short set. Although only catching the last glimpse of their set, I was very impressed with what I heard from this rock band and can definitely see why they have made a fan in Radio 1’s Zane Lowe. Zane has played one or two of their songs on his evening radio show and recommended them as one of the bands to look out for this year.

Twenty minutes or so later, the venue had become even more packed, which surprised me as ‘Funeral Party’ is quite a new band and not so renowned as of yet, although last year they were NME’s number 47 of the 50 best new bands of 2010. As they approach the small stage they are greeted with a great cheer from awaiting fans and move quickly into their set. The four piece band all looked well dressed and prepared for the gig; providing lots of energy and getting the crowd applauding lavishly.