Live Review: Billy Talent, Young Offenders

American physicist Brian Greene best captured the adventure of experiencing a new act for the first time with his quote: "Exploring the unknown requires tolerating uncertainty". Upon arriving at this historic landmark venue there was a very surprising river of fans impatiently awaiting entry to bask in the warm glow of Fowlers, and their favourite band. Fair to say the "unknown" was far from frightening at this early stage.

Adelaide's Young Offenders have been working towards a setting like this, tirelessly performing and releasing remarkable music. How to greet an audience of this magnitude? Vocalist/guitarist Kyle Landman executed it perfectly with two magic words: "Let's dance." In all probability this was the longest set the three-piece have played — and to the biggest audience they have ever faced — but the band did not hesitate; they soared. Watch This City Burn, Broken Records, Talk Of The Town, I'm Not Coming Back and a cover of The Clash's London Calling set an excellent mood for the willing attendees, who were entranced and dancing in response. When you combine Arctic Monkeys with The Clash, The Living End and a hint of Jamie T, magnificence will shine through.

There was no denying that the anticipation for Canada's Billy Talent in Adelaide was monumental, forcing the audience to move like a turbulent sea. There was no calming this storm, the only option was to heighten it, and when the four Canucks attacked the stage South Australia reacted in pure ecstasy. Devil In A Midnight Mass provoked the typhoon, but its intensity was continued by the shared energy of the quartet and the capacity attendance. This Suffering, Big Red Gun, Afraid Of Heights, Rusted From The Rain, Saint Veronika, The Crutch, River Below, Louder Than The DJ, Red Flag, Devil On My Shoulder, Try Honesty and Fallen Leaves made up the performance which honestly incited havoc. The band takes inspiration from the greats such as Refused, The Hives, Say Anything and My Chemical Romance; however their set was slightly hampered by illness, which vocalist Benjamin Kowalewicz admitted to throughout. It eventually got the better of him, cutting Billy Talent's performance short by at least 20 minutes. The entirety of Fowlers Live waited for the encore that never came — ultimately upsetting — but in retrospect no one who attended including this scribe left sad.