Live Review: Redcoats, Royston Vasie, The Dead Love

Rock is still well and truly alive at the 'Dale and louder than ever and, maybe this reviewer is getting old, but it was the first time a pair of ear plugs were requested from the bar person, a steal at a buck a piece. That said, it suited The Dead Love's sweaty pub-rock-inspired set that had a lot of energy and drew a substantial crowd early on. The Sydney trio demonstrated some tight playing, theatrics and a lot of ambition, with their sound being a mixed bag of progressive rock, indie and even metal. The gathered crowd and an enthusiastic mob up the front were obviously very much enjoying the moment.

Melbourne's Royston Vasie started slow and more subdued – a stark contrast to the preceding band – but the crowd grew bigger and bigger as the songs kept coming. Probably contributing to the growing crowd was the band's well-known single, You Want It Now, which was inevitably their most well-received song. However they displayed a surprising amount of backbone and depth with a lot of their other tracks, cementing a sound that's two parts pre-Bohemian Like You Dandy Warhols and three parts pre-Aha Shake Heartbreak Kings Of Leon.

Also from Melbourne were prog rockers Redcoats, whose persistence on the live circuit is paying off as they attempt to build a following outside of their local scene. Sounding a lot like early The Butterfly Effect if they were semi-influenced by Liquid (remember those?) and perhaps the Desert Sessions, not only were most present very into it, the band themselves were stoked, taking time out at the end of the encore to get a photo on stage with the audience in the background. Frontman Emilio Mercuri was a focal point for the band and when not flexing his falsetto, spent a lot of time getting into the music or as one person commented, 'making love to the atmosphere'. Judging by the night's performance, the 'Coats may be looking at booking bigger venues in the near future.