Four weeks ago a snow engulfed Luton and a soggy Student Union brought the trademark DTA Relay to a halt before it was even under starter’s orders. Thanks to some remarkable rescheduling (only two of the original 11 bands couldn’t make the revised date) what was to be a pre-Christmas jamboree has become a New Year curtain raiser. There’s a problem though: it seems some of that excess turkey is weighing things down, from both a band and punter point of view.

Charlie Indestructible has the unenviable task of greeting a crowd that’s more than a little cold between the toes but, to the Luton quartet’s credit, makes a decent enough effort. Playing a brand of post-hardcore/melodic-rock that turns out to be a bit of a theme tonight, the band impresses with some rolling rhythms and the odd bass-twanging moment. It’s forceful without being overbearing which makes for good but not outstanding listening.

There Lies History opens The Long Bar with a similar sound only there’s a touch more pop to it. One performance isn’t really enough to get a good handle on the Watford outfit, which seems to be the impression many in the room. Judgement is reserved rather than written off.

Perhaps it’s a precursor of what’s to come but the sound in the Sub Club doesn’t seem to get anywhere close to filling the room which means None The Less is sounding distinctly quiet. The Watford quintet seems to be actually getting heavier with each passing gig (certainly the ‘Metal n’ Roll’ moniker is veering more towards metal now) so this is a real stumbling block. Still, onstage the band is putting the energy in so it’d be unkind to lay responsibility at the band’s pointed shoes.

The Radiating Eyes is the first band to really inject some fever into proceedings. Not moored to the stage, everybody bar the drummer is playing from the floor in The Long Bar and you can’t help but fear for the safety of the punters; guitars and microphone cables are perilously flung about. Musically the Bedford quartet is sounding heavier than on previous outings, adding to the old school punk sound with some more hardcore tainted elements, all pleasing to a die-hard contingent at the front. The band has a song called ‘Live Music is Dead’; performances like this prove it’s anything but.

Nurturing. That’s the word that comes to mind as DTA regular Fate of a Stranger performs. Over the past couple of years the band has been gradually building itself upwards. There’s still a sense that the band identity isn’t quite there (sometimes it’s almost pop-punk, sometimes it’s more post-hardcore) and, as was suggested last time out, the band is lacking that one killer song, but still performances like these (sure-footed yet not outstanding) will help the band grow and progress another step.

Floods (oh the irony of the name) seems to be battling gremlins and technical hitches alike to blast out a short set of ear-bleedingly fierce hardcore/post-hardcore/menace. The issues obviously frustrate the band and it’s safe to say this Long Bar performance won’t be the standard by which the band is judged. Let’s see how things go in a few days time at The Horn.

Exit Avenue can in 25 minutes absolutely blow the doors off. A crowd that’s not been overly apparent with its sentiments today is coerced into jogging on the spot, pounding arms in the air and jumping around like a kid on Ribena. Synthy pop-punk may not be the main course on this menu but it’s hard to argue against the impact the quartet has. As singer Neil traverses the security barrier it’s hard not to feel that this is all going to end badly. Fortunately, the quick set is just about seen through safely. Just about because a power outage has it’s way and kills the final 20 seconds. Winter Relay, you may just be cursed.

Fortunately the outage is only affecting downstairs so Luton’s own At A Glance gets the opportunity to close out The Long Bar. There’s plenty of work to be done for another band that’s merging harmonies with screams, and melodies with breakdowns, not least both vocals need tightening up, but work-outs like this are the way to go.

Say what you want (and thankfully we can as a crack team of electrical geniuses has gotten the power back up and running) about the ‘softer’ direction Deaf Havana has taken with new album Meet Me Halfway, At Least but it’s hard to deny the Norfolk band has stacks of talent when it comes to live performances. Sure the vocal harmonies aren’t as sugary sweet as on recording but the passion and vitriol the band can generate will buoy any show. Tonight, whilst not being quite as potent as previous DTA outings, the band manages to elicit a response from a crowd that’s not been overly enthusiastic all night. There’s a heavier feel to the set that harks back to the first EP, and is thankfully not destroyed by the earlier sound problems. It’s over pretty briskly, a culminating sing-along to ‘Friends Like These’ signalling the closing of the bar and the raising of the house lights. It’s not the most marked performance you’ll see but it does at least demonstrate how the fanbase is widening. In a way Deaf Havana’s performance proves somewhat of a microcosm of the show as a whole: solid enough without being astounding.