Live Review: Twelve Foot Ninja, Dumbsaint, Teal

It's so refreshing to have the opening act completely fucking knock you for six. The Central Coast's Teal delivered a short but effective list of tunes, and set the benchmark high for the night. Joe Surgey's soaring vocals distracted guys at the bar buying drinks, his Buckley-esque vibrato cutting through the heavy rock to enthral patrons and command his presence on stage.

Sydney's metal instrumentalists Dumbsaint followed up with an intriguing set of hard rock pieces to short films projected on stage. It was a totally foreign concept for the Cambridge stage, the cinematic experience combined melodic ambience, building drums, bass and guitar, and the obscure narrative conducted in silent projection. Despite consensus of the band's live power, the effective ambient sounds seem more striking in recorded format – perhaps the performance was better suited to a more intimate venue.

The headliners rounded out a night of alternate ventures in the genre and delivered their progressive rock with intense gusto and charisma, the room wiped out from opener Mother Sky. Known as Kin, Twelve Foot Ninja's lead vocalist tantalised the Newcastle crowd, drawing them in with a beautifully interesting mixture of world music and funk before the boys shredded the stage, much to the pleasure of those in the front rows willing to thrash.

The dudes from Melbourne entertained with tunes from their two EPs and late-2012 record Silent Machine that the tour celebrated. Their experimentation was a beautiful thing to watch unfold, from the solely hard rock FEAR from their first EP New Dawn, to dubstep infused Shuriken, with the track marking itself as a highlight of the gig. The eclectic group of songs were matched by interchanging lighting states, as strobes filled the room during the breakdowns, and dark shadowy blues, greens and purples highlighting Kin while he told a story during Rogue and sole-encore tune Portrait #1.

All the best aspects of Twelve Foot Ninja's set culminated in last year's cut Coming For You, the Spanish guitar and quiet vocals meeting as dark lighting burst into bright while the five-piece bounced all over the stage. The song was fun and every member of the band possessed such fascinating charismatic qualities that it was difficult to stay still – fans howled for the band to return to the stage, just to get one more taste of this great live act.