First impressions as they kicked off their first set were positive too, with the old classic Deep Purple song from which they've taken their name quickly followed by Cream's White Room, both sounding well balanced and tightly played, with the classic "Jon Lord" organ sound from Jon Rodd really adding to the authenticity. New-ish boy guitarist Rich Shillitoe, clearly more of a metal-head than perhaps the rest of the band, was particularly impressive - with tight pumped up rhythm work and a fine display of chops when it came to the solo spots, while Chris Lambert nearly had the "Pete Way" cool-vibe-thing happening with his not-quite as low slung as necessary Thunderbird bass propping up the bottom end. The backing vocals sounded good too.

The locals and the normal smattering of "friends of the band" seemed to be enjoying themselves, especially during a neatly re-worked House Of The Rising Sun and one or two of slightly more obvious songs from their set first set, although communication with the audience between songs seemed a bit lacking - always a tricky area to get right, but not helped by vocalist Mitch Colman scrabbling for lyric sheets in between most numbers. Come on Mitch - Rich knows the guitar parts, so get the words nailed too!!

The second set kicked off after a short break, and everything somehow seemed a bit "looser" than earlier. Not sure if this was down to the band trying out a few new songs, lack of rehearsal, or maybe a few too many beers during the break, but Jumping Jack Flash in particular sounded a little uncoordinated at times, while the previously solid drumming from Clive Irvine-Gizzie seemed to have gone AWOL. Chris seemed a bit busier on the bass than during the first set too, although this may have been in an attempt to firm up the rhythm section slightly. Another re-working, this time the old Four Tops number I'll Be There, had the punters singing along madly, but by this time it was clear that the set was being developed rather on the fly - and this didn't help Mitch with his paper sift on the monitor in between numbers. The rowdiest of the locals seemed to stick with 'em as a few drinks went down the hatch, and that's what pub-rock is all about really.

Unfortunately I missed the end of the gig and what I'm sure would have been a rousing encore - assuming the tightness from the first set made a welcome return at some point. Having said that, it was a decent night, and Hush are well worth checking out if you're musical tastes start in the early 70's and don't go much beyond the 80's.