Live Review: Reverence Hotel First Birthday

Featuring current and former members of The Nation Blue, Young & Restless and, up until tonight, Love Like… Electrocution, High Tension threaten to be the sum of all their parts, but fall short of such lofty standards. Naturally, they draw heavily from their previous projects but this time with a harder edge. Karina Utomo's screeching, guttural screams after a while became monotonous and, to their downfall, grating.

The Gun Runners sound like every band on the Fat Wreck Chords label rolled in to one, shifting between melodic and aggressive before coming around to sing-along anthems. Audaciously throwing in Metallica and Pantera riffs, together with the use of laser lights and a smoke machine, it's the perfect party for the venue's first birthday celebrations.

Taking their name from a Schifosi song and featuring members Tristan Clarke and Jacquie Hynes, Infinite Void are certainly a punk band. Where their difference lies however is in their delivery, favouring a garage/indie-rock aesthetic over the hardcore variety. Their Sonic Youth influence is evident in more than just guitarist/singer Hynes's t-shirt, as her intricate guitar noodling sits underneath back and forth harmonies with co-vocalist Alicia Sayes. Still Waiting is one of many highlights from their set, an infectious and anxious stab of melody.

The Smith Street Band have a close affinity with the Reverence Hotel. They christened the bandroom a year ago for the Poison City Weekender, returned months later to release their single and recently, discreetly played an unannounced show to road test new material. The band have rarely played a show in Melbourne over the past two years that hasn't been at capacity and tonight is no exception.

There's a certain euphoria of witnessing a band in their element and similarly, experiencing their rise first hand; it seems all in their presence this evening are treated to both luxuries. Frontman Wil Wagner has an eloquence with words and an innate ability to articulate situations and experiences. “I can't think of better company,” he sings in I Ain't Safe, a line that sums up the atmosphere created by both band and venue.