Live Review: The Rubens, Rainy Day Women

It was a busy weekend for music lovers in Perth with many a gig to choose from and it seemed quite a few chose to come see The Rubens on Friday night, with Capitol packed to capacity.

Local five-piece Rainy Day Women opened up the night with their catchy blend of indie-pop. The shoeless band rock a strong set and demonstrated that the busy year they've had has helped them to develop an impeccable chemistry on stage. Vocalist Dylan Ollivierre came on stage wearing a sombrero that he found in lost property which he threw off and into the crowd a few songs in, commenting that it seemed like a good idea at the time. The band interacted with the crowd, entertaining the growing audience from the start and getting them in the mood for things to come.

After a lengthy break in between the sets, The Rubens strolled on stage, dressed in matching white shirts and black jeans. If Rainy Day Women are one of Perth's brightest up and coming bands, then The Rubens are in the running for the national title. Forming early last year, The Rubens have exploded in popularity over the past few months, and with their debut album coming in at #2 on iTunes the week it was released, it seemed all the fans came out to enjoy the music live. Kicking off the set with The Best We Got, the band launched straight into proceedings as they played Be Gone and Elvis, two of the lesser-known songs from the band but absolute standouts - especially live. And then seemingly out of nowhere, they played the opening chords of their epically catchy single, My Gun, which was delivered with perfection. While the placement of the track mid-set was a little unexpected, the crowd reacted as expected with a massive sing-along and cheers, almost proving that these three brothers and their childhood friend can do absolutely no wrong. I'll Surely Die was another track that went down well and vocalist Sam Margin's voice shone during the beautiful Paddy. Lay It Down was last, and the crowd reacted with cheers and whistles as they sang along, finishing off a night that honestly seemed to end all too soon, with the set absolutely flying by. Guess time does fly when you are having fun.