Live Review: Grinspoon, Kingswood & Emperors

First up tonight are Emperors, a newer band from Perth. They've got an undeniably '90s sound – grungy, but not bathing the songs in reverb and distortion. One song sounds incredibly close to Weezer's Undone (The Sweater Song), further adding to the '90s vibe. They might be a little derivative, but the songs are well written and they make it work.

Locals Kingswood are up next and waste no time kicking their set off. Their songs hurtle along, reminiscent of Queens Of The Stone Age at their grooviest or The Hives at their heaviest. Songs such as Medusa and She's My Baby allow singer Fergus Linacre to show off his impressive vocal range, as he switches with ease from a smooth singing voice to rougher screams. Their cover of First Aid Kit's Wolf gets a great reception from the crowd and has plenty of people dancing.

“How farken great were those guys!” several groups of people can be heard exclaiming after Kingswood. It's a bit of an older crowd that's steadily filling the bandroom tonight, as if the night's headliners and the Triple M posters plastered all over the venue didn't give that away already. Grinspoon take the stage after a quick changeover and kick things off with Black Friday. Immediately the mosh kicks into gear at the front, restricted only by the steps on either side. Phil Jamieson struts his way around the stage and dances with a goofy grin when he's not belting out songs from all over their nearly 20 years as a band (only 2007's Alibis & Other Lies doesn't get a look in).

The band hit their stride almost immediately tonight, but the definite highlight of the show comes from the run of More Than You Are, Chemical Heart and Champion – the latter song sending the crowd wild as soon as Joe Hansen plays that familiar bassline. Later in the set, Jamieson and guitarist Pat Davern don acoustic guitars for She's Leaving Tuesday and acoustic version of Just Ace, which is dedicated to Jamieson's daughter (it's her birthday tomorrow) and “all the dads who have missed their daughter's birthdays, or will in future”.

They play a few more songs, again mixing new and old before leaving the stage. They return for a quick encore and hammer out Lost Control, getting the crowd going crazy one last time. Before we know it the show's over and everyone begins the slow ascent up and out into the night.