Live Review: Rival Schools, Toy Boats, Alibrandi

Brisbane quartet Alibrandi might be throwing plenty of love towards the headliners but their performance doesn't suffer under the weight of occasion, the local guys smashing out a solid opening stanza of tight jams. As sharply dressed guitarist David Thomas lays into his six-string, frontman Nathaniel McManus delivers his lines with honesty and heart. Second track Rooftops is a choice taster from their debut record; The Pirates, meanwhile, has a kick arse stop-start riff that sounds even sharper with the hi-hat rolls of drummer Michael Mihailovic, before the soaring Even Lions May Fall signs off the set in fine style.

Starting off with a more typical emotion-charged solo ode before kicking things in the guts in full-band mode, Hugo Costin-Neilsen, aka Toy Boats, sounds beautifully cracked from the outset. The rest of the quartet onstage are super placid, but uncertain as to how long they've been backing the Byron Bay songwriter, their seeming lack of comfort could be justified. It's irrelevant, however – Costin-Neilsen has charisma in spades. Wallflower and Rent show off the youngster's confessional songwriting style, while a cover of The Postal Service's The District Sleeps Alone Tonight makes the track sound like it was written to be delivered so raw.

It seems like Brisbane is still suffering from a BIGSOUND hangover as the floor is sparsely filled when New York heroes Rival Schools unassumingly appear, but there is no denying the reverence that everybody in the room holds for the trio. Pedals cuts Eyes Wide Open and A Parts For B Actors get things underway in fine fashion; Sammy Siegler is murdering his kick drum and with long-haired bassist Cache Tolman they create a thick bottom end for the enigmatic Walter Schreifels to lead the charge. Travel By Telephone is the first song pulled from their seminal debut record United By Fate, and the climatic finale still soars as high as it did over a decade ago. By this stage Schreifels is killing it – 69 Guns, Wring It Out and High Acetate all deviate from the standard song templates, and although these men are in the forties a youthful exuberance is still tangible. With Walt wailing on his axe, the fact that they are in trio mode now doesn't affect the tracks in the slightest, and dubious titled new tunes such as Captured By Indians and California Jesus Woman instil belief that the band still have plenty left in the tank and will hopefully be back with a new record in the future. Shot After Shot swings with sharp abrasion before a final run including Used For Glue, My Echo and Favourite Star caps off a night of post-hardcore perfection.