There's loads of kids, skate ramps and stalls and a separate bar area as it's all ages, with all ages being about 4 - 44. The exact running order has been posted at the entrance to the hall where the bands will be playing. All of this and there's bands playing too?! It's all very precise with only about half an hour for the earlier bands and around forty minutes later on with very little time in-between.

Capdown were already in Glasgow in April this year, when they supported Less Than Jake. Now they're kicking off the Deconstruction Tour and are very pleased to be doing so with no signs of the bigger venue intimidating them in any way. They play their hearts out and engage the crowd in conversation "Is anyone deformed?" you know, that kind of thing. The singer still jumps about like a mad man and plays the saxophone too. Although they do seem a bit concerned about the time limitations near the end but settle on playing one more. I just like them more and more.

It's only early afternoon and the singer from The Bouncing Souls is looking rad in black shirt, black trousers, black tie and trainers? He looks like some bizarre Nick Cave style crooner apart from the jumping around the stage and dancing, which is reminiscent of the puppets from Thunderbirds. He makes sure he covers as much of the front of the stage as possible just so everyone's happy or maybe he's just taking advantage of such a big, wide-open space. They pack their half hour with a kind of 'Bouncing Souls play their Greatest Hits' and then they're off.

I'm not that familiar with Catch 22 having only heard one album, but they play really fast ska-punk type stuff, so what's not to like. I wonder how anyone can sing so fast; it's like a punk tongue twister. No wonder they go through their singers. The brass section frequently joins in on the singing, which makes for a very impressive and uplifting sound.

I find Avail very confusing to watch. There's the band playing and singing then there's the mad bloke with the beard, the false face, the big foam hand, the dance moves, waving his arms, stealing the bass and playing a song and singing along furiously without a microphone. It's hypnotising, although I try to concentrate on the rest of the band and really listen but it's all so very distracting.

I have to force myself to go see Snuff. I know everyone, including NOFX's Fat Mike, thinks they're great but I have a horrible secret; I was unmercifully tortured with their Flibbiddithingimybob album by an evil, Snuff loving friend, which consequently leaves me screaming hysterically every time they're mentioned. I make it through their first two or three songs, but then they mention the football and then they try some anti-Scottish banter which amuses my English friend but sends me heading to the bar to console myself (or perhaps I just need a bit of a rest?) and leave my chortling English friend in a big hall with how many Scottish people?

We miss the beginning of Boy Sets Fire, in a pre-planned food excursion. The 15 minute changeover between bands leaves little time to do much at all, but the posted schedule means that you know when everything will happen, so I'm afraid this was our dinner time. We catch about the last two songs, which are played with a ferocity that you have to admire, but even my hardcore-friendly ears find it all a bit too much. There's not much melody in the onslaught and it's difficult to tune into what they're doing. Live is not usually the best way to get to know and love hardcore music.

Also hard going on the ears at times are Sick Of It All, but I'm already familiar with most of their songs so I can tune in to the melodic underbelly and go with it. They are very lively and there's loads of jumping around on stage. You wonder how a band that can sound so pissed off can look so goddam happy, it must be very therapeutic. They prove once again that hardcore is not just a macho domain and dedicate a song to "the ladies" who are invited into a girl-safe pit. This is a nice touch but there's still the incessant sweatiness, flying feet and stuff.

Lagwagon are running a bit late, tut tut, the perfect schedule is finally thrown off. They finally arrive on stage and are very tired and full of complaints but it just seems like part of the entertainment, part of their charm. There's the usual in-band banter between songs, and song title tie-ins. "You know when you shave, and it really hurts? You guys will know about that in a couple of years. This song is 'Razorburn'". Tired or not they're still amusing, although possibly a little low on the song count.

It's been a long day, we've survived on chips, beer and maltesers, and we've stood longer than is humanly possible, well apart from the kids who've strewn themselves all over the sticky floor, and now there's another band to go. Pennywise launch into their first song and everything else is suddenly forgotten. Fletcher does his usual crowd encouraging speech, full of four letter expletives and demands for some action in the pit. The venue have refused to sell their 'Fuck Authority' T-shirts so Pennywise decide to throw a bundle into the crowd for free, or rather for anyone who's prepared to "Get in there and get active!" There's also free CD's for anyone in the pit with a Pennywise tattoo. A couple of new songs are played and they sound great, but it's the ones that we already know and love that get the biggest reactions, as does a storming version of 'Blitzkrieg Bop', which unsurprisingly is dedicated to the late, great Joey Ramone. They finish off with the legendary 'Bro Hymn Tribute' and encourage a stage invasion to play them out.