If you happened to drive past the Soundhouse on Monday July 2, you may have noticed the array of teenagers clad in a mixture of luminous tights, spray-painted T-shirts and long hair.

They were all there to witness the Big Shenanigans', a concert consisting of up-and-coming Bolton bands Mining Castro, 10 Feet Below, Averice, Black Duke, Massive Head Trauma and Defiant.

The gig was organised by Unsung Talent, a Bolton-based organization dedicated to providing gigs for young bands in the Bolton area, and even before any music had been played, throngs of fans had gathered in front of the stage, eagerly anticipating an uproarious night of live music.

The first band to take to the stage, Black Duke, immediately got the crowd dancing with their energetic cover of 20th Century Boy' by T-Rex, followed by equally lively versions of Blur's Song 2' and Kasabian's Empire', with the climax of the set involving a daring stage dive from frontman Josh Coates, aged 15.

They finished on a slightly more mellow note with a slower song, with impressive guitar work from Tim Parker, 14, and Jak McNally-Burn, which was to be his first of three performances on the night.

Black Duke were followed by pop-punk band 10 Feet Below, who performed crowd-pleasing covers of songs by American bands Sum 41 and Blink 182.

After a slight technical hitch, 70s-style punk trio Massive Head Trauma launched into Blitzkrieg Bop' by the Ramones, with explosive vocals from guitarist Ollie Yates, and Bassist Rik Mitchell.

Their next covers were The Clash classic White Riot' and 'I'm a Rat', originally by Celebrity Big Brother star Donny Tourette's band Towers of London, as well as their own signature chant-along Indie Boys', with tasty drumming from multi-talented McNally-Burn.

When the crowd had calmed down from M.H.Ts wild set, heavy metal band Averice stepped up and provided breathtakingly fast drumbeats and headbanging all round.

Indie band Mining Castro were the penultimate band of the night, and thoroughly impressed fans with covers of the Bloc Party hits Banquet' and Helicopter' as well as more Sum 41.

Last but definitely not least, headliners Defiant plugged in, and when Bassist Jamie Alnami was nowhere to be seen when they were ready to start, an enthusiastic chant of the 15 year olds name made sure he took his place on stage.

Defiant performed their songs Crash and Burn', Through the Lies', Fields of Deception', and an especially exhilarating Reflection', with stunning guitar work from Ben freestone, 16, and Jack Gregory, 15, as well as more wild drumming from McNally-Burn.

Freestone and McNally-Burn also brought chuckles all round by performing the introduction to Aerosmith and Run DMC hit Walk This Way', before thrashing out final song, Bon Jovi track You Give Love A Bad Name', which totally brought the house down and summed up what was an eagerly-accepted change from the average Monday night.