Live Review: The Roller Den Opening Party

Sundown State were the first of the highlights. Falling between Stone Roses and Tame Impala they will surely be heading for the UK as soon as they can afford it. Their cover of Oasis' Gas Panic! was phenomenal and their original A Friend Of Mine quality. Dead Radio made it clear that the Sydney scene is going through a psychedelic shoegaze revival. The room held the acoustics of three guitar layers nicely and the Mosrite seemed at home, almost giving birth to the true city basement band room.

The Fixators kept upstairs humming with enough reverb for orcas to notice. The banter flowed as they relaxed into Franz/Vampire Weekend pop fuzz territory. Their EP Colourblind is worth grabbing. Despite all the cock rock douchery that The Dead Love put out their music's more Grinspoon than Motley Crue. Thrashy rock with a punk twist and occasional riff or melody that makes it all go down smooth. Thieves kept Pedal Fest 2014 strong upstairs. They're apparently notching up as many live shows as they can before unleashing a new direction with their yet-to-be-released album Anxious Heart. If the title track is anything to go by, their festival invites will continue growing.

Wasters slid the upstairs room from rock to pop nicely before the total poptasm of Panachae exploded all over the mirror balls. Wasters' Jebediah cover was fun, and James Seymour's vocal is hot beyond his years, echoing a rawness not heard since Sid O'Neil. Panachae meanwhile walked straight from the set of Glee, with amazing hair flicks down front and guitar licks from the back of stage. The night finished off upstairs with true Manchester 89 heartthrobs The Khanz. Architecture in Helsinki x Beats International x Hacienda – hell yes.

Downstairs had a delectably more gritty finish, with Born Lion tearing the place apart. Easily opening with hit D For Danger because the rest of their catalogue is already shit-hot. Good Times Jimmy was an obvious highlight, as was the bass players rant, the singer's crowd participation and the 140 per cent intensity from go to woah. The Snowdroppers were the prefect choice for Roller Den's christening. Like a bluegrass yokel snogging their cousin, it was hot, sweaty and frenetic; and so, so dirty. Their grimy rockabilly sludge made covers Yer Blues, Cecilia and Hurt all their own, while the stage show dubbed 'Soundwave 2014' made the sausage fest night all glam rock lovely, the, “I been working hard all day all night” refrain from Do The Stomp was the bare balls truth. Apologies to the rest of the line-up. Like Soundwave, scheduling made it impossible to catch everyone.