I was really looking forward to this night of not three, not four, but five bands presenting their individual brands of pop, punk and everything in between. Suffice to say, I wasn’t disappointed.

Kicking off the night were the Spazzys with their brand of crazy pop-punk. The trio of Kat, Alice and Lucy performed a tight set, with the singles Hey, Hey Baby and Paco Doesn’t Love Me proving crowd favourites. Other winners were My Boyfriend’s Back and Let’s Get Spazzy which always sound great live and never fail to bring a smile to one’s face.

Then it was After The Fall’s turn to take to the stage amidst a rapidly growing crowd. They played an enthusiastic set, the highlight of which was single Mirror Mirror. Their brand of melodic rock went down well with the crowd and I’m sure this is a band whose fan base will continue to grow with each gig.

The Bronx received a rousing reception, and proceeded to tear the house down. Within two songs, the crowd was going bonkers (just ask the guy who retreated to the back of the room to blow blood out of his nose for fifteen minutes). Hailing from California (yes, that’s right, not the Bronx in New York), these guys were easily the best act of the night. Matt Caughthran screamed and crowd-surfed his way through a ripping set of punk-core at its finest. It was pure excitement from start to finish, particularly embodied within the tracks False Alarm, They Will Kill Us All (Without Mercy) and Kill My Friends. I cannot wait until these guys return to Australia.

It appeared, however, that the majority of the crowd were there to see the next band, Lagwagon, and it has to be said that they put on a great show, performing a slew of songs off their back catalogue, including Coffee And Cigarettes, Mr Coffee, and Old School. Sing-a-longs prevailed through Know It All and Island Of Shame and the cheery pop-punk five-piece received a heroes’ send-off.

Finally, MXPX took to the stage. Their sound was great, and man, can Yuri Ruley drum up a storm. I was pleasantly surprised by this energetic and polished performance. Although not as impacting as the performances of The Bronx, or Lagwagon, it was still enjoyable and the crowd lapped it up, from the first few tracks of The Next Big Thing, Sometimes You Have To Ask Yourself, Well Adjusted and Middlename and beyond until the end of the set. Vocalist Mike Herrera maintained a friendly rapport with the audience throughout the show and it was great to see the band looking so genuinely rapt about playing.