Live Review: Tired Lion, The Hard Aches, Pemberton

Noisy, unapologetic and oddly nostalgic might be some of the words used to describe the opening set at Fat Controller by local five-piece, Pemberton. Taking to the stage with some good old Taking Back Sunday vibes that hit home for almost every Gen Y, ex-emo kid, Pemberton gave us a taste of tracks from their demo Headfirst (2015) as well as some new material. Despite still working towards a second release and having all members not look a day over 21, the ease with which the two (equally strong) vocalists had the crowd fist-pumping, singing and clapping along to their pop-punk anthems was impressive.

No matter how many times you see Adelaide punk rock legends The Hard Aches, they never put on a boring set. You get the same amount of sweat, spilt beer and screaming fans whenever this two-piece get put on stage to play some music. On this night in particular, we were treated to newer releases like Loser and Glad That You're Gone, provoking impressionable young men to take their shirts off in pure ecstasy. With spirits high, we got classic Aussie banter between frontman Ben David, ("Sick cunt!") and a guy in the crowd, ("FUCK YEAH!"), before letting the carnage run wild with I Get Like This to wrap up the set.

Rolling through Adelaide before conquering Europe over a handful of festivals, Perth indie-rockers Tired Lion got comfortable for an extended set that included up to five shoeys and one "beanie" (don't try this at home, not as effective as shoeys). The first thing you notice as Tired Lion play is that Sophie Hopes' electric vocals are even better live and carry the grungy, '90s guitars with ease. Infectious melodies at a paced out stride made crowd favourites I Don't Think You Like Me and Are You Listening...Listener? perfect opportunities for some moshing and crowdsurfing.

It should be mentioned that the slower moments were also appreciated — as we had a particular lull within choruses, a guy was lifted and just held up by a dozen hands. He was illuminated, motionless above our heads as we all stopped and stared. It was pretty nice. Tired Lion carried themselves with an effortless punk rock attitude to match the tunes. From encouraging female punters to push past the guys, to pouring Jack Daniel's into the lapping mouths of sweaty front rowers, we got the whole package. As if this wasn't enough, a relentless cover of Violent Soho's Saramona Said had the entire basement moving and singing along, before finally closing the night with a quintessential Tired Lion track, December.