Let me get one thing clear from the start, I have no idea about Chuck Ragan or Hot Water Music. I'm a big fan of Against Me! but not one of the die-hards who think that they have sold out and pretend they were fans since the early EPs. I just like AM! for being a great and as such found myself at the Corner on a regular Wednesday night ready for the strange situation of a couple of punk singers with only an acoustic guitar slung over their shoulders.

Getting there 15 minutes before Tom was due to hit the stage (God Bless the Corner's policy of having set times up on the website a few days prior), gave time to down a quick beer and marvel at the near capacity crowd in front of an essentially empty Corner Hotel stage. First weird thing.

Casually, both Tom and Chuck appeared on stage and launched into a duet of sorts. Not your standard duet, not a Bette Midler and Barry Manilow style of duet, more of a 'two angry guys ripping the shit out of their throats' duet.

After finishing the first song, Chuck said they would flip a coin to see who would play first. That would be the second weird happening of the night. Tom ‘won’ so he exited the stage, and given the difference in reception both the guys got, I think this was a good move. I'm not ripping on Chuck at all, but the crowd was definitely there for his 'support act'

Chuck bored me. His voice was massive, and sometimes he turned down the gravel and sang in a great deep tone, but for the most part his songs all seemed a bit too samey. Adding harmonica was a nice touch for the first few songs, and he sang some old Hot Water Music songs that gave the crowd a chance to sing along, but I wasn't won over.

After an hour or so, Chuck introduced Tom onstage. Requests flew constantly between songs as he started with a couple of lesser known and new songs. He aired a selection of material from his solo EP 'Heart Burns' which got the singing (notably 'Amputations' and 'Random Hearts') but it was the Against Me! material that quickly switched the crowd from generally appreciative to intensely active and vocal. Spanning all the AM! albums, he pulled out a crowd pleasing set including 'Armageddon', 'Pints of Guinness Make You Strong', 'Joy' and 'New Wave'. Arguably the highlight of the night was 'Sink Florida Sink' which inspired all to 'fuck it up'.

Third weird event of the night: I never thought I'd see crowd surfers at an acoustic show... but such is the nature of AM!'s music, and the beer swilling fans just couldn't help but sing along, pump fists and get involved in the music

Chuck eventually re-appeared onstage and the two ran through 'Ana was a stool pigeon' from Tom's latest release as well as a few well received cover songs.

The roar from the crowd did not let up after they left the stage though, and we were lucky enough to get one more song from each of the guys, Chuck bringing out an Alkaline Trio cover, and Tom again harking back to the Against Me! album 'Reinventing Axl Rose' with 'Baby, I'm an Anarchist'. Who knows if any of the audience could really lend their voices to such an anthem but it bought the vocal crowd together for one last time, before the lights were raised for one of the most unique and surprisingly engaging gigs I’ve seen.