Live Review: TEIJ, Oakland, These Winter Nights

Launch nights are always special, but a band's first is always that bit more so — from the moment doors opened there was a buzz around the cosy, carpeted confines of Jimmy's Den as family and friends of TEIJ prepared themselves for what would be a wildly successful evening. These Winter Nights warmed the already bulking up crowd with some absolute belters. They incorporate a strong sense of theatre into their live performances and their songwriting ability is top class. A passage throughout the third track that built up to these gorgeous vocal harmonies before kicking into an insanely dramatic guitar hook was an evening highlight. It's a tragedy that These Winter Nights have next to no publicly accessible material, as they truly are one of the most talented acts around town.

Oakland were next up and their seamless blend of catchy indie-rock got punters moving in no time. Vocalist Alex Cooke's guitar was almost bigger than him, and when he wasn't using it, he'd just hang from the microphone as he sang, but the semi-newcomers have mastered their sound and developed some fantastic tracks since the beginning of the year, mainly coming from their debut EP, Into The Sea. They're a really exciting prospect and hopefully all they do from here is continue to build on their catalogue.

Everyone surged to the front of the room as TEIJ took to the stage, the enthusiasm levels hitting an all-time high. By the time they reached second track I'll Never Be A Wife, it was clear they're above and beyond what you'd expect from such a new band. Each member performs with an air of confidence you'd expect from seasoned performers who've had a much greater time to gel together as a group. Chaos was a confessed favourite of singer Tahlia Beeson's and the conviction with which she smashed out those vocals made it a highlight of the night. A great thing about the performance was that everyone had their time to shine — Tim Milroy jammed out with a guitar solo, and one of the closing tracks saw Brett Walsh tear the drums a new one. Tell The Boys, the band's first single and the centrepiece of the gig that evening, was the final track, and when you can dish up a tune like that as your band's introductory statement to the world, there's no knowing just how far TEIJ can take it.