Oh, the drama, the emotion, the beauty. The second Club Beer soundclash - us versus The Black Knight of Casino Royale at The Monarch - was a night of utter glory. The whoops of delight. The cheers of recognition. The chanting at the end, terrace-stylee: "Bee-er! Bee-er! Bee-er!" It was. . . it's too much. . .

Two reasons why it was always going to be a good one. (1) Angus finally tracked down some bottles of the famed Ghanian beverage, Club Beer - oh yes, you'd better believe it, our new tipple of choice. (2) Having spent the last two months on the wagon after losing a bet with a mysterious masked man in a backstreet bar in Soho, Angus decided enough was enough and tumbled spectacularly off the wagon. The Black Knight may have prepared some surprises for us, but we had a secret weapon - Angus, pissed as he'd never been pissed before. We simply could not lose.

And we didn't - even though Casino Royale claimed a draw in order to get us back for a rematch in the New Year. We kicked off with "Crazy Horses", got rocking with "Walk Like An Egyptian" and "Unbelievable" and then went Greatest Hits crazy, playing all of the Club Beer Classics we could in our first half an hour slot. People were on the stage, dancing with their arms in the air, from the get-go, waving BEER! signs like it was the end of a frantic night, rather than just the beginning. The Dark Knight hit back with some upper cuts - some indie classics and a few of our tunes, "Eye Of The Tiger" and the like - so we hit back by getting weirder. "Since You've Been Gone", "500 Miles", "Pretty Vacant", loads more, but. . . and here's where the pissed Angus came to the fore - only allowed to spin for a verse and a chorus, so we could pack as much in. "We've spent years trying to build up the credibility of this club," wailed promoter Jeff, as we spiralled further and further out of control, "and you're going to destroy it in one night." Too right. The Black Knight came back to a crowd that had rocked to "Green Door" and "Uptown Girl", and gave up his indie stuff and turned in a brilliant Club Beer tribute set - "I'm Free" by the Soup Dragons being a particular highlight. "You're our subconscious," he explained later. "You play all the stuff we want to play but are too scared to. But tonight you opened the box." And how.

BIG SHOUT OUT THANKING YOU-STYLEE
We would have been nothing without you lot rocking like maniacs, so time for a big shout out thank you stylee list, like we used to do in the old days. Yo! Big ups go to: Julian and the Beer Posse ("You've been responsible for some of the best nights of my life...and the worst hangovers!"); Jonathan and the Hot Rods fan club; Neil, Julie and Liz, who always said there were going to come and couldn't quite believe what they were seeing; Karen and her mate - if anyone can give a job to a suddenly unemployed soaps journalist, let us know; Susan Babchick and her amazing dress; Rachel Kennedy and her lot; Mr and Mrs Matthew Ambown, who had to leave early because they were afraid of what Club Beer was going to unleash in them; Adrienne and Gillian, who've been to more Club Beers than is strictly necessary, or good for your health; Jeff and the ultra suave Victor De Milo for being brave enough to let us trash their dream, even though they both looked as white as a sheet for the entire evening; and of course The Black Knight, a worthy adversary and fine chap. Our hats are off.

The full photographic evidence is here

For chapter 13, you'll have to wait as we've lost the pics....

But chapter 14 is right this way