Live Review: The Story So Far, Anchors, Castle Bravo, Blindspot

If the Amps line was anything to go by, you would've been hard pressed to think one of the biggest pop punk bands from the United States was in town. Clearly the 8pm start and the 20/20 cricket final had something to do with this. Nonetheless, kicking things off were locals Blindspot, and with a small audience to begin with, they could've been excused for a lacklustre start. But instead they delivered a pretty impressive, style of punk rock with a bit of humour to go along with to lighten the crowd up. Dropping the C bomb in their songs and covering the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song, it was an interesting start to the night.

Following up were local punkers Castle Bravo and as more punters began to swarm in you could feel the sense of excitement building. The four piece take a lot of their influences from bands such as Propagandhi and Rise Against and mix elements of punk, rock and hardcore, a worthy support. Melbourne's Anchors, finally made it to Perth, having not made the trip over during their national tour with Boston's Transit last year, and they were apologetic to begin with - apologising to the crowd “sorry for taking so long”. As soon as they started all was forgiven, and they offered a great live set, showcasing their style of hardcore punk, and rock, similar to Strung Out. The perfect build upfor what was to follow.

As the venue began to reach what seemed like near capacity it became clear and apparent who everyone had come to see tonight as California's The Story So Far took the stage. Starting their set with crowd favourite Daughters, the band began to feel more at ease on the stage as the punters were getting louder and more involved with more stage diving and mic' shouts between frontman Parker Cannon and the crowd. The band concentrated on tracks from 2011's Under Soil And Dirt, belting out States and Minds, Roam, Closure and Four Years, with an incredibly energetic stage show before rattling off older tracks Brevity and 680 South.

Perhaps the bands biggest asset is their vocalist Parker Cannon's distinctive and aggressive voice that sounds just as poignant and controlled during the live performance as their recordings. A bit of Australian larrikinism has evidently been passed onto the lads during their first time in Australia, as frontman Cannon put on his best Australian accent to deliver “You guys are sick cunts, god I love saying that”, with a big cheeky grin on his face. They finished their set with the track High Regard, and as soon as they got off the stage the punters all chanted for one more song. The band went back up and asked permission from the sound guy if they could play one more before launching into their first single Quicksand, finishing an awesome set from arguably one of the most promising pop punk bands in the world.