Live Review: With Confidence, Harbours, Undercast

Undercast, the newcomers to the recently rejuvenated Australian pop-punk scene, hit the stage running with a string of energetic numbers in what was a commendable opening performance. 'Faster and louder' was the game plan from the start and no one was complaining as they tore through the majority of the tracks off their Temperamental EP including Pressure and a particularly memorable rendition of Hold Tight. The absence of nasally and whiny vocals from lead man Michael Cross made a nice change from the usual vocal style that typifies the genre.

The stage was now set for Melbourne-based Harbours to lift the roof. Fortunately for us (and the venue), the roof stayed perfectly intact, much to the dismay of the deflated crowd made up mostly of tweenies and their parents looking on anxiously from the back of the room. The soaring vocals of frontman Tory Robertson were cut startlingly short as a technical glitch tainted their opening routine. The set never really recovered from there, apart from a stellar solo acoustic performance of the title track from their newly released EP Nothing Stays The Same, which managed to usher in some level of crowd involvement.

With Confidence entered the room to a massive hometown ovation that was swiftly consumed by the well known guitar intro to Keeper, the first single off their upcoming debut album. The boys carried on in fine fashion, appeasing the crowd with the songs Tonight and Say You Will. The kid-like antics of guitarist Luke Rockets continued to butter up the adoring fans as the show went on and no one was left silent as lead vocalist and bassist Jayden Seeley handed it over to the crowd to start the ever-present favourite Take Me Away. Adding to the surreal stage show (complete with swinging guitars and GoPros) was a topnotch lighting display and a faultless sound mix that made many of the songs sound uncannily like the studio versions. Once the encore was called, singer Seeley was the first to appear back on stage genuinely confessing: "We've already played every song that we have!" No matter, the band launched into a maiden live performance of an unreleased track from the new album, which was "music to the ears" of the enthused crowd.