Live Review: Mezzanine, The Love Junkies, Trigger Jackets, Dead Owls, Foam

It was a chilly Perth night when five local bands hit the Rosemount stage to showcase the up-coming talents this town has to offer, all there to celebrate Mezzanine with their new EP, Vile Horizons. Foam kicked off the night with their grunge-drenched tunes. Clearly fans of Nirvana (who isn't), this band aren't afraid to wear their influences on their cardigan/flannel sleeves. Dead Owls were up next, and vocalist Jordan Tjhung has an impressive set of lungs with great range. The set was refreshingly diverse, though paring back on the instrumental intros would not have hurt. Trigger Jackets provided more refuge from the cold, and the band are clearly solid musicians, playing a polished set fuelled by their drummer Jack Wagner. Their followers lapped it up, singing along to the catchy choruses. The Love Junkies rounded out the supports and were a highlight of the night. The band possessed great energy with infectious drumming and hearty vocals. More people were drawn in from the beer garden, with the set ranging from almost alt-country to punk-rock.

When Mezzanine hit the stage, the bar was full and cosy. Here to launch their sophomore EP Vile Horizons, the band began playing at full pelt with the audience feeding off some high energy. At times the music seemed almost atmospheric before delving into harmonies that would fit nicely in the pop-rock formula. It was obvious that each member of the band brings something different to the stage, yet they feed off each other to bring depth to the songs. Though Mezzanine had good stage presence, some more audience interaction wouldn't have gone astray. Frontman Corey John Rist did puncture the set with a dedication to “Zoe” as he launched into a pitch-perfect cover of The Pixies Gouge Away, much to the crowd's pleasure. The set then took a darker turn, with Rist shouting “I miss you, I love” repeatedly into the microphone and showcasing the genre-jumping nature of the band. The guys also threw in a long instrumental number. Whilst this highlighted the band's craftsmanship, it felt out of place in a bar on a Friday night and more suited to at-home listening. The boys ended the night in the same energetically passionate way that they began, finishing to raucous applause from the crowd. Mezzanine show potential and drive with a cracking live show, and the EP is a solid reprentation of that.