Live Review: Tired Lion, Tomorrow Rising, Glass Skies

Tired Lion brought a large crowd to the Crown & Anchor on a freezing Sunday night, almost tripling their previous headline audience and keeping the morale high. Meanwhile the band battled the fatigue of heavy touring. The ironic band name jokes lasted the entire duration of the beer-soaked evening.

Glass Skies opened the show to a minimal crowd. The Crown & Anchor's local band nights never kick off before 9pm, so as the band made their 7.30pm start, punters only trickled in slowly, their natural body clocks set an hour and a half ahead. As one of the best local bands in Adelaide (we're waiting on an official longitudinal study before it can be confirmed that they are the best) Glass Skies had no problem entertaining those who'd made it out early with their enormous riffs, frenetic soloing and super-solid drumming. Bassist Azz Shaw operates an array of soundscape machinery while simultaneously playing his instrument. By the time the band played their epic closer, Highways, there was quite a sizeable crowd inside. 

Having seen recent success supporting Short Stack at their sold-out show at The Gov the momentum is only continuing to build for the hook-based five-piece alt-punk rockers Tomorrow Rising, who have honed their live performances diligently over the past two years. Their songs follow a crisp rock formula, with smooth guitar tones and ultra-tight drum work. "The first time we played here there was probably only a few people in the room, so it means a lot to us that all of you are here," said vocalist Callum Parr to the half-full room.

As Tired Lion played their opening notes, the room was suddenly packed close to the brim. People clambered on top of seats to see the band's brand of riffy pop rock, a mix that sounds like Hole meets Violent Soho. Sophie Hopes is an extremely strong vocalist and carries the entire band with her unique and powerfully expressive voice. While a little similar to many other alt bands, Tired Lion have enough individuality to stand out.