My 3rd July, Said Girl, Kerb,Alleged, Stars Don't Fall @The Amplifier Bar, 12/09/04

Thu 16th Sep, 2004 in Gig Reviews

It was a nice sunny day in Perth to have an all ages gig at the Amplifier Bar. The gig, Punksui II: The Royal Edition, was the EP launch for local Perth band Stars Don’t Fall. The Amplifier bar is a pretty breezy venue with the doors of the inside opening out to a veranda outside and the design sets up a rather picture perfect set for a great day of gigs.

The first band to take the stage was My 3rd July. I got to the venue about 15 minutes after the doors opened and managed to miss half of their set. The crowd was still filling a lot itself but the patrons that were already there seemed to enjoy the show the band put on.

The second band to perform were Said Girl , who never seem to disappoint. Their frontman, Lee Hollis utilises his ability to scream and vocalise quite impressively, and the meshing of his vocals with hardcore riffs makes them a great live act. Said Girl are definitely developing a professional presence on stage which makes them stand out amongst the many up-and-coming bands on the hardcore scene. The crowd thoroughly enjoyed the set that the band provided, but and once they had finished, everyone went outside into the sunny, fresh air to have refreshments and cool off.

The next band on were by no means strangers to the local punk scene in Perth. Kerb have been performing in Perth since 1995 and their experience is noticeable. Overall, their performances are never anything worth bragging about and this one was no different, but it’s just great to see a band stay around for so long, solely due to their love for what they do and not because of any money made from doing it. Kerb hold a lot of respect from fans of the local punk scene and this was visible in the way the young crowd warmly engaged with their set and enjoyed their well-rehearsed performance.

It took awhile for Alleged to start and this delay, combined with the heat inside the venue began to agitate me. Alleged, like Kerb, were nothing special but there were still the hardcore fans moshing away. The lead singer protested a lot in defence of fellow hardcore bands, such as the headliners, but I found his preaching to be repetitive, annoying and in the end rather pointless. Why tell a crowd of hardcore punk fans to not dish dirt on hardcore punk bands? The majority of the crowd is there to support that style of music and not to slander it, after all!

Alleged did nothing but make me crave a really good performance from the last act, Stars Don’t Fall. I was really looking forward to these guys – who were formerly known as Four Times Jimmy – and was interested in hearing their debut EP, Cliché, played live. Their style is pop-punk but the band does not hold the commercial feel that usually accompanies the pop-punk genre. Vocalist Darren always brings the fans into the songs by pointing the mic towards them, and also engages the crowd between each song. Stars Don’t Fall are an extremely fan-orientated band and this comes across strongly in their live performance. They continue to improve as a band on a mission for success. They definitely have potential so it will be interesting to see where they take things from here.

Overall, this gig was okay. It was nothing overly special, and nothing I’m gonna remember probably a week from now. However, there was some great local talent displayed and it’s always good to see bands take the effort to perform gigs in front of all-age crowds.