Live Review: La Dispute, Balance & Composure, The Love Junkies

The Love Junkies may have sounded a little out of place on the bill, but should feel proud of themselves: many in the audience, going by what was heard by punters after the grunge-rockers finished their set, had not heard of the band before the day but certainly considered themselves new fans. Balance & Composure took to the stage soon after and by that point, tickets had just about sold out and the venue was heaving. The band put on a phenomenal performance to justify the number of people in the venue, creating a wall of guitar noise accompanied by a set of soaring vocals that left many feeling completely floored. The group of musicians conjured up the emotiveness of their music with the showcasing of a number of tracks from The Things We Think We're Missing – their latest EP – and rivalled the headliners with what was an incredible performance.

La Dispute have managed to tour Australia yearly for the past three years now, and given the reaction they received from the audience, they would surely be considering coming back next year already. The rawness and urgency that La Dispute have managed to create with their records translates into a live setting perfectly, and the group's adoring fans tried to match them for the entire show. Newer tracks such as Stay Happy There were lapped up by the audience; however, it was the older tracks that really worked the crowd up to the same energy levels as vocalist Jordan Dreyer: Andria and New Storms For Older Lovers, when performed, spoke volumes about how important the band's music is to people, but set closer and encore track King Park was definitely the highlight, building up to this insane level of frantic energy, before a wonderfully abrupt finish that left people still trying to compose themselves as they left the venue.