You’d be forgiven for thinking you had stumbled across a Halloween party gone wrong as a zombie, the Hulk and a monkey walk on stage. This is no ordinary Halloween night... The Subways party has rolled into town, and they are dressed for the occasion.

Ten years on from breaking through by winning an unsigned band competition and performing at Glastonbury, you would struggle to find a harder-working touring band than the Hertfordshire-based trio. Tonight’s gig is the penultimate date of a mammoth 23-date tour of the UK and Ireland.

Sometimes to get heard you have to shout loudly. Tonight’s main support Max Raptor are making themselves heard. It’s no surprise the Burton-based based four-piece have toured with the likes of Billy Talent, with whom they draw obvious comparisons. In their own spirit of Halloween, all clad in black, they draw heavily from their two studio albums, 2011’s Portraits and 2013’s Mother’s Ruin, and unleash 30 minutes of unrelenting punk-rock.

In 2013 they lit up the Barn Stage at Truck Festival with their bruising brand of urgent, punk. But Max Raptor also have a softer side, crafting in sing-along choruses with Patron Saint’s ‘woah, woahs’.

Opening with Oh Yeah and Shake! Shake!, it’s clear The Subways and the crowd are in a mood to party, as a mosh pit quickly takes hold. The short, sharp, good-time rock & roll continues with I Want To Hear What You Have Got To Say, the rousing opening track from their 2005 debut Young for Eternity quickly followed by I won’t let you down and Mary.

Their self-titled fourth album, due to be released in February, will be the follow-up to 2011’s Money and Celebrity. New tracks My Heart is Pumping to a Brand New Beat and I’m in Love and It’s Burning My Soul have a familiar punchy sound, written in the same winning formula.

Lead singer Billy Lunn is never short of energy, even in his monkey outfit, and he orchestrates their spikey sing-along tunes which whip the crowd into a frenzy. The inter-action between the band and their loyal fan base is one reason The Subways are still so relevant. Crowd favourites Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Rock & Roll Queen and We don’t need money to have a good time from all three albums, plus new tunes, prompt frantic outbreaks of singing, pogo-ing and partying.

There is no let up in the hits as Girls and Boys and Celebrity get the crowd involved and at the end of It’s a Party there’s finally a chance for the crowd to catch their breath.

Ten years of partying shows they are no trick; tonight is definitely a treat. The Subways do what they do, and they do it scarily well.

Mark Heelis