Live Review: The Smith Street Band, Joyce Manor, Ceres, Allison Weiss

Allison Weiss oozes confidence and charisma as she opens the night. Her edgy, happy rock is the perfect warm up for a four-act line-up and helps the crowd get in the groove for what is sure to be a killer night of garage rock'n'roll.

A beautiful floral backdrop hangs from the ceiling with Ceres in large letters mimicking artwork for Stretch Your Skin. Their high energy grunge guitar riffs compliment frontman Tom Lanyon's gnarly, rough vocals perfectly. Two guys are drunkenly slow dancing to the tune of Choke and the feeling of love in the room is in full force.

The crowd screams along with gusto to the sounds of Californian four-piece Joyce Manor. It is evident they have a strong fanbase here, with no song left unsung by the enthusiastic — and a little intoxicated — crowd. The same could be said for lead singer Barry Johnson who's downing a few bevs during his set ("Give it up for the Furphy!"), yet still aiming to perform at a top notch level. Johnson's fast-paced guitar and yelly vocals keep the set at 120%.

The Smith Street Band banner drops to opening song Suffer and no one was prepared for the level of passion and power this crowd has built up for tonight. 

Frontman Wil Wagner reflects on growing up in Melbourne, "so many times I walked past the Forum Theatre and thought, 'one day'" and now tonight he played it, sold out. These guys have it all — the passion, the skill, and genuine attitude to make their performance pull together strangers in an incredibly emotive way. Through all the heavy guitars, deep bass lines and powerhouse vocals, the room feels united. "Someone fell over, and all of you turned around and picked them up," gleams Wagner after Ducks Fly Together, utterly floored by the respect and love in the room, as well as that one guy we're 99% sure was smoking a joint while crowd surfing. 

Throughout the night Wagner and his band mates are completely at bliss, their smiles are from ear to ear. The visuals representing the songs stories, and Forum Theatre's 'night sky' atmosphere was spine-tingling. Everyone sings along — sometimes louder than the band — to each and every song, word for word. The most noteworthy part of the night came in the form of Wagner inviting his father on stage to join Laughing (Or Pretending To Laugh), an absolutely incredible moment to witness.

'The Smithies' are the role model archetype to all bands out there. Their respect, humility, gratitude and passion are infectious and there is no denying how much they deserve to be where they are right now.