The attraction was Baghead, a Newcastle-based musical outfit clocking five years on the scene.

While their numbers fluctuate with every gig, a septet was crammed into the Junkyard’s fabled corner, and the addition of female vocal backing and percussion set Baghead firmly apart from the average pub rock act.

Frontman Dan Johnston led admirably, both in his guitar and vocal performance and in openly soliciting beer for his bandmates between sets.

His vocals were pleasant, if occasionally dwarfed by the deafening acoustics.

The band is at its best when classic rock, deeply gratifying when it arrives, eventually gives way to greater nuance.

Johnston’s solid song writing ensured that these moments were many.

They segue seamlessl between deafening crescendos and moments of sparser instrumentation where each musician can shine.

“Trouble” saw bassist Christopher Dale – fuelled by a schooner delivered mid-song – performing a melodic intro and trading solos with the ever-excellent lead guitarist Dave Wells.

Backing vocals and percussion, provided by Loretta Wells, Melody Pool and the Junkyard’s own Melissa Quinn, gave a haunting aspect to numbers such as “Wake Up For Me” and “Feeling and Pain”.

A standout was “Not Nothing”, which veered satisfyingly between hard rock and something more remote and rhythmic, where Johnston’s voice and Wells’ guitar took precedence.

These days, Baghead are hardened veterans of the Junkyard. It’s evident in the way they treat the crowd as one might treat their disreputable but beloved extended family. They are mildly bemused when two drunken revellers toppled over right in front of them mid song. A symptom of a successful gig if ever there was one.