Live Review: The Growl

“It's fuckin' hot as fuck!” The Growl frontman, Cameron Avery summed up conditions at The Bakery last Friday night in one compelling and rich sentence. What Avery may lack in grammatical competency, he certainly makes up for with his on-stage performance. That being said, it truly was very warm inside a suitably crowded venue and the lead singer could perhaps be excused for one impromptu expression of thermal exacerbation. 

Local legends, The Growl have barely had time to settle back into life in their hometown after supporting Tame Impala's Lonerism album tour through The US and Canada. A little bit of R&R would surely be on the cards for the Perth-based sextet after nearly a month of living in the same campervan in the shadow of no doubt, a modest Tame Impala tour bus. As we've already learnt however, there's a lot missing from the vocabulary of this otherwise talented group of musicians, and the term respite, is clearly a prime example. They've just released a new album, What Would Christ Do?? and it's provided them with the perfect excuse to launch a national tour. 

The albums launch night went down at The Bakery last Friday, and was fervently received by a lively crowd. Mild Child took to the stage early on and offered the early birds a taste of their new material from the recently released Spectrum EP. The always charming Rabbit Island came on soon after and delivered a charismatic set to what was by this stage a crowded house.

Shy Panther were next on the bill and wasted little time in generating a festive atmosphere. The groups' dynamic frontman, Daniel Fragomeni, lived up to his stellar vocal reputation, and drummers Ben Santostefano and Chris Wright simultaneously maintained faultless synchronization to create the foundation of the groups' sound. A cameo appearance from The Chemist's lead singer, Ben Witt, provided the band with a helping hand – not that they were in any need – and added further fuel to what was a tremendously fun and animated set.

The main act took to the stage just behind schedule and wasted little time in showing their appreciation for the home grown support. One might be forgiven for thinking that a group of dudes that just finished an international tour, released an album and subsequently announced a national tour all in the space of a few months might appear somewhat fatigued. Rest assured, this was not the case. Anyone that's ever seen The Growl in the past, can pay homage to the groups raw, chaotic and often spontaneous flair. This was The Growl of new, whilst still embodying many of the unadulterated characteristics fans have grown to know and love, the group simultaneously showcased a far more structured spectacle. Spending time on tour has definitely served as a maturing process for the group, with an overall more cohesive and united performance to prove it. Lead singer Cameron Avery was especially prolific, maintaining a thrilling tempo for the entirety of the night. 

All in all the night was a great success for the group, with all signs pointing to a big 2013. Perhaps this time next year it will be them creating shadows in the tour bus.