Live Review: Tired Lion, Pat Chow, Silver Hills

For hometown heroes Tired Lion, Saturday night was the culmination of an incredible 2015, celebrating the end of their first national headline tour, alongside an appearance at Splendour In The Grass and Triple J’s Like A Version, with the release of their sophomore EP Figurine, showcasing their growing maturity, energy and influence at a sold out show at Amplifier.

Influential from the beginning, Tired Lion’s dedicated sell-out audience threw away any preconceptions, arriving early to pack out the venue for all four bands on the lineup. For debuting band Ah Trees, the audience response throughout their incredibly tight set was humbling. With every layer perfectly resonating throughout the room, the five-piece were able to comfortably engage with punters and leave a memorable impression through their resonating melodies and groovy vibrancy.

With little movement from attendees, Silver Hills took to the stage to continue the night’s build with their mellowing blend of dream pop. Whilst the group were instrumentally on point, supported by lavishing and delicate drum fills and gliding guitar tones, long and often unnecessary breaks in between songs hampered some of the group’s gathering momentum. A strong finish featuring a roaring guitar solo in Sunsets On The West Coast picked the room back up and prepared them for one hell of an impactful set to come.

In-your-face, alcohol-fuelled aggression mixed with sensational (award-winning) drumming and rocking riffs? It could only be Pat Chow. If the excited main-eventers wanted to warm up the crowd they found the perfect answer in the energetic local trio, who smashed through their 45-minute set, ensuring everyone in the packed-out main room and the remaining outside drinkers could hear their destructive howls intertwined with bopping builds and swaying rhythm. Unfortunately vocalist Ben Protasiewicz may regret the group’s quirky and brutal ending which resulted in a thrown guitar.

“I know you’ve been really chill all night, but it’s the end of the chill...”  And with that Tired Lion concluded the night in style, with a thunderous embrace of their hometown crowd in a gratifying moment as the four-piece completed their dream of selling out a show at Amplifier. 

Following 2013 hit Desperate, a rowdy mosh of spirited locals began a constant stream of stage jumps and crowd surfs amongst a sea of inflatable animals and balls. Moving into the opening track of their latest release, Suck, the band continued to showcase their cohesiveness and structural improvement with impeccable tightness. Vocalist Sophie Hopes’ versatility was, as always, bliss surrounded by the recognisable tones and character of guitarist Matt Tanner joined by Nick Vasey’s unstable movements and drummer Ethan Darnell’s ability to mash simple fills into brilliant builds and huge choruses. Following a live version of their recent Violent Soho cover (Saramona Said), the group encouraged an increase in chaos as a live shoot of the band’s next video track, December, began. With crowd surfing at an all time high the band finished off the night with crowd-favourite I Don’t Think You Like Me and EP title-track Figurine seeing Hopes and Darnell respectively dive into the waiting arms of ecstatic fans resulting in a brief roar of encore chants from the pleased and proud Perth audience.

Originally published in X-Press Magazine