Upstairs @ O2 Academy Oxford

Last Saturday's (June 18) was the second, and featured sets from Message to Bears, Cat Matador, Deer Chicago, Phantom Theory, and headliners Spring Offensive.

Upstairs is an ideal way to discover the quality and range of musical genres the Oxford music scene has to offer.

The nights are a who's who of the local scene; even local singer-songwriter Adam Barnes was serving drinks behind the bar.

A pretty cool way of networking, I’d say.

Message to Bears began the night on a nice level with their chilled 'Sunday in my slippers' vibe. These guys play with such a delicacy and soft touch it leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

The music comes from a nice blend of acoustic guitar, piano, percussion, samples and strings. A great start.

Next up:Cat Matador, who are on an equally lush level as ‘Bears’ but more up-tempo with a splash of Indie-pop.

'Matador' are a cross somewhere between Joy Division and the lyrical warmth of The Magic Numbers. They were very tight and set the tone nicely for one of the highlights of the evening; Witney’s very own Deer Chicago.

These three local indie-rockers have come a long way in a short period of time.

This gig proved their recent hectic gigging schedule has made them one of the tightest and polished bands in Oxford.

Lead singer Johnny Payne was on-point with his strong, driving vocals. Tristan Griffiths on drums gave a real power to the music. Along with Daniel Newton on bass, this trio compliment each other perfectly.

Following Deer Chicago was Phantom Theory, an alternative rock/grunge two-piece who gave a high-energy live show of big beats and riff-happy distortion.

These guys seriously rocked, turned it up to 11 and the two of them made the sound of a six-piece. Think of a Biffy Clyro and Queens of the Stone Age sandwich with a side order of Deftones, and you’re pretty much there.

The stage was set. There was a great feeling in the air, a feeling this legendary stage was going to host another one of those special nights.

The line-up had shown the diversity of our local music scene in a way that made you realise there was only one band that could headline this line-up. Enter stage left: Spring Offensive.

Right from the start their haunting and epic sound is remarkable and they leave you feeling stunned and exhausted.

The packed crowd were bouncing along to great renditions of 'A stutter & start' and 'A let down'. The dynamics of their songs range from the delicate composition of 'The cable routine' to the spine chillingly deep 'I found myself smiling'.

They were ridiculously tight and their harmonies were spot on throughout their set.

The audience were calling for more for all of 10 seconds before they rushed back for the encore; a deeply explosive and intense 'Every Coin' that left the audience stunned.

Spring Offensive's lead singer Lucas Whitworth gave high praise to the O2 Academy Oxford’s Upstairs event.

“It's a great feeling playing to a big hometown crowd, there's nothing that can beat it really," he said.

"Gigs like this are what you want to be doing as a band. It's nice to know that Oxford wants to support us and be part of this.

"I'm still buzzing to be honest."

If you are someone who has yet to see Spring Offensive I urge you to do so before they go off to London and make it, because in due time I'm sure they will.

If they don't, there is something not quite right with the world.

The Upstairs evenings are clearly a big success and a great platform to showcase the finest talent Oxford has to offer.

Vicky Walter from O2 Academy Oxford confirms my view.

"We were delighted with how things went," she said.

"We feel really proud to be able to work with BBC Introducing in Oxford and put some of Oxford's most unique and talented bands on our stage.

"It's reassuring to see that the combination of a great line-up and a great venue can draw a crowd as big as we had.

"After the success of the launch it was brilliant to see this month's show go on to be even more popular and for so many people to come out to support Oxford's fantastic local scene."

The musical-bar for these Upstairs nights is now set at to a very high standard.

After Saturday’s gig it may well have been set too high. I’m going to go back next month and see if it can get any better than this... and I think you should too.

Upstairs at O2 Academy Oxford is on the third Saturday of every month.