Live Review: Sunnyboys, The Stems

There's an inherent element of nostalgia to tonight's sold out show, but from the outset that's superseded by the unabashed vitality emanating from both the musicians and the timeless rock'n'roll they conjure. Perth '80s icons The Stems are back from hiatus with a vengeance – perhaps reinvigorated by the introduction of killer guitarist-for-hire Ash Naylor to their ranks – and they deliver a stream of melodic garage nuggets which have the already-primed crowd firing from the get-go, songs like Move Me, Get To Know Me, For Always and She Sees Everything going down a treat. Frontman Dom Mariani is in fine fettle, his voice as strong as ever and his obvious excitement contagious as they whip through Hellbound, Make You Mine and Sad Girl, and by the time they conclude with the evergreen At First Sight the crowd can be considered well-and-truly warmed up.

Which is just as well, because they need to be in the zone to survive the ensuing rock tsunami. A video montage of historical band footage with piano backdrop hushes the venue and an air of excited expectation envelopes the entire environs; suddenly a grab of Here Comes The Sun bursts from the PA as the legendary Sunnyboys enter the fray to a heroes' reception and pound into As I Walk like they've never been away. There's so much love and respect in the room it's quite remarkable, and the four-piece return the favour with Love To Rule and the irrepressible Tunnel Of Love preceding the first true banger Happy Man, which prompts the euphoric crowd into a singalong frenzy from the very first note. The band seem genuinely touched by the positivity being willed at them by their ecstatic acolytes, frontman Jeremy Oxley in particular seeming overjoyed, and the energy flowing both ways between band and followers is almost tangible. They throw in B-side To The Bone and it goes down well, but it's numbers like My Only Friend (which veers off track a tad but not enough to derail) and the anthemic Let You Go which really fire. There's an intensity and vigour that belies their vintage as the Sunnyboys rock unrelentingly through No Love Around, Love In A Box, What You Need and It's Not Me, bassist Peter Oxley taking the reins for The Stooge to break up proceedings a tad, before their brilliant set concludes with glorious takes on You Need A Friend , Liar and the rollicking I'm Shakin'.

There's still gold in them there hills, however, and a huge chant drags the band out for a hit-laden encore of Trouble In My Brain, The Seeker and the ever-amazing Alone With You, this captivating comeback complete following a second encore of Show Me Some Discipline. Resilience, recovery, redemption, reverie, remembrance and righteous rock'n'roll.