It's a quiet autumn weekend in south london. And have been reflecting on a gig I went to in the summer.

Sometimes the significance of an event can become greater long after it has happened. And so it is with Waster’s gig at the Oi! Bar in Camden back in July. It was the best Waster gig I’d been to. I thought and felt it at the time. But only now is it sinking in just how significant it was for me. That’s the sign of a special band. When the music and performance changes the way you look at the world. So this review is as much about me and the others who watched and listened that night as it about Waster, the band.

I strolled slowly and alone on a summer night to the gig in Camden. A dull and wet evening, walking up from the Euston Road, close to where I was working. It’s about a 25 minute walk. In my usual melancholy state of mind I contemplated the lights against the wet streets. They reminded me of scenes from Taxi Driver. And for a few moments I imagined myself in a movie. It’s a good way of separating my soul from the rest of the world. Keeps me apart. Safe. It makes feeling lonely almost heroic. Just like the character in Green Day’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams - ‘I walk a lonely road, The only one that I have ever known, Don’t know where it goes, But it’s home to me and I walk alone’.

I wasn’t alone for long, at least not in the physical way. I approached the venue. Even on a damp, mid-week night Camden seemed busy, though less so than normal. Noise, people, drunks, lovers, late workers on their way home. And me. I decided to drop into the Best Kebab House in Camden (allegedly) for some food energy. More people, surrounded by other people, busy, eating, alone. And then to the gig.

I didn’t know what to expect. It had been nearly two years since I last saw the band play live. I’d heard some of the unmixed material from Bullet Holes, but wondered whether they would be able to match the brilliance of the songs with an equally brilliant live performance.

Waster were on last and late. At first they started hesitantly. Not helped by the usual exit of the previous performers’ friends, family and fans. Maybe 20 people left. Mostly sitting. I won’t go through each of the songs. First I can’t remember the set list. But more important, this gig was to be a whole experience not one neatly divided by tracks.

Gradually a confident sound crept up. Heads started to nod. First to the hypnotic beat, then in approval. The guitar sound began to soar, with an angry, fun but strangely compassionate tone. The bass. Meaty but intricate and driving the sound upwards and bringing it down just at the right moments. The drums, hard, regimental with an occasional and unpredictable firework display of sound - wow. Mike, in command. Bringing together the emotional carnage coming out of his fellow musicians. And reworking it into a coherent package through his songs, voice and charismatic presence.

But what was really significant about that night was the audience. They weren’t jumping around. Not the usual gaggle of girlfriends dancing awkwardly in support of their brothers and boyfriends in a band.

Instead people sitting. Not just hearing, but listening. Not just looking, but watching. Mesmerised by the performance. Talking amongst themselves excitedly about what they were experiencing. This wasn’t just a good fucking band. This was a special band. And they were experiencing a special evening. That’s what marked this one out from the early Waster gigs. And just to confirm that this wasn’t just any ordinary band or evening, I noticed several people beginning to congregate outside the window of the bar, looking in at the band. Nodding to the beat. Some dancing. Giving thumbs up.

Me? I was smiling with joy. They’d arrived. They’d done it. No deal yet. But they were fulfilling the potential I always knew they had. They’d written the magnificent songs I knew they could write. They were giving the soulful high energy performance I knew they could give. They’d developed their own unique sound. I once said about Waster that they had the potential to be a British Pixies. I was wrong. They have exceeded. They are their own band. If comparisons are to be made. I would say they take the best of Green Day and the Pixies. And mix it with a healthy dose of good ’ol British punk, not to mention the whole back catalogue of rock ’n’ roll.

What was especially significant for me personally about that night was the inspiration Waster gave. It’s only recently, looking back at that gig I realise how it inspired me and changed the way I look at the world. We are not alone. And we don’t need to walk a boulevard of broken dreams. We can do something. We can reach our potential. Connect with others. That’s what I like about the name Waster. It has a beautiful irony. They’re doing ‘it‘. They’re connecting. They inspire. I haven’t found my ‘it’ yet. But Waster have given me the inspiration to keep searching and to never give up.

I'd be interested to hear from other people who have experienced events, artistic or otherwise, that have changed the way they experience the world.