Live Review: Violent Soho, Straight Arrows, The Living Eyes

Scrappy, frenetic four-piece The Living Eyes open the bill tonight with chordy garage punk, their heavy set proving full, tight and sharp. All In Good Time demonstrates frontman Billy Gardner's powerful, yowling vocals that are seemingly too big for his small size. At the close of new song, A Million Miles A Minute, Gardner concludes with a flourish, triumphantly slamming down his distortion pedal.

Follow-up outfit Straight Arrows play their high-octane, noisy power punk to an almost-full capacity crowd. It's great to watch them jumping around onstage, really getting into their own, pounding set. The band's wailing, shouted, dual male vocals are accompanied by thick bass, occasionally punctuated by shrill harmonica for an extra, unusual flavour.

Here launching their new Hungry Ghost album, headliners Violent Soho open with an incredible bang thanks to grimy, contagious single, Dope Calypso, their dramatic use of dynamics really playing on the audience's anticipation. Neighbour Neighbour also features early in the set, its catchy melody piercing through the band's immense, clanging noise while ecstatic punters sing along with every word. The bandroom has quite a surreal atmosphere: bright, colourless lights shine onto the frenzied crowd who move and jump together in waves.

Frontman Luke Boerdam proves an amazing performer, flaunting those distinctive vocals that are a little nasal, a little emo and undeniably powerful – switching from screaming to singing with apparent ease. He doesn't socialise much with the crowd however, leaving this up to the lovably hairy guitarist/back-up vocalist James Tidswell. Given Boerdam mentions that he's lucky he's got his voice back, we can put this down to preservation rather than coldness. Meanwhile, Tidswell does a stand-up job directing proceedings, frequently reminding us to deliver the band our drugs via the merch table.

The furious, grungy Muscle Junkie is a keen crowd favourite with its invigorating build and mix of soft and heavy, the whole room filled with shouts of, “Fuck you! Fuck you!” This jumpy, communal attitude is again reflected in the melody-driven Saramona Said, fans singing “let's start a fire” together in a mantric fashion, their energy and adoration infectious. Ingratiating himself to the crowd, Tidswell informs us that Melbourne is better than Sydney because we don't have Hillsong. This is by way of introducing Jesus Stole My Girlfriend, during which over-excited punters take their crowd-surfing antics to the next level – at one point there are four fans onstage at once. This doesn't impact on the band's playing in the slightest, Tidswell in fact thanking security for not being “dicks”. Violent Soho prove the perfect combination of scruffy rockers and consummate professionals with this highly memorable performance.