Punters gathered early on the drizzly Saturday evening outside Club Capitol to witness some of Perth’s finest offerings. Attendees got their tickets early this time after the disappointment of the last Gyroscope show which sold out the afternoon of the gig leaving many outside Capitol looking in vain for a scalper with a spare ticket. Ticketless fans were turned away, whilst those inside were met with the surprise sight of barricades in front of the stage. Many would like to thank the person responsible from the Snakeskin tour because tonight fans would not be able to get up close and personal with the band/bands they had come to see.

First up on the all-Perth line-up were The Reserves who are only playing the Perth leg of the Breed Obsession tour, taking over for Melbourne band Young & Restless. By the time their gear had been set up and tuned the room was already more than half filled with patrons. Pretty impressive considering their given time slot. After two songs guitarist Ben Cocker rallied the audience for the coming acts, receiving replies of whistles and “fuck yeah!”, whilst frontman and bassist Matt Pirga, who was really not much of a talker, stayed in the shadows. They played the unreleased Resyline, which had the crowd applauding (but not much else) and Waiting For No One from the EP of the same name. They finished off with Behind the Lies, which sounds a little bit like the chorus of The Living End’s Prisoner of Society – with less of a punk influence, a little less whining and prominent Aussie accents. By the end of the set it was pretty clear that not many people had bothered to look them up. A shame, as they aren’t bad. They just have a consistency which some can’t take.

Bathed in red light, we see the roadies return to set up for the recently much-publicised quartet Sugar Army. In no time at all we were graced by the presence of their vocalist Patrick McLaughlin, best known for his trademark leaning on the mic stand. In the red light, his all-black outfit was a sharp contrast to bassist Ian Berney, dressed in white. As the rest of the band joined them on stage, they burst out with an energetic start. Two songs in and enthusiastic drummer James Sher reduced one of his drumsticks to splinters, tossing it away while still keeping to the beat of I Got Your Soul and again during the Panic at the Disco-esque titled … And Now You’re Old Enough I Think That You Should Know. It’s a catchy and mosh-able song with a slowed down intro, a drum beat that gets your head nodding, your feet tapping and lyrics that leave you feeling dirty…in a good way.

The final note of Maybe The Boy Who Cried Wolf Was Just Paranoid_ hadn’t even rung out and the band had not yet left the stage when the room suddenly got a whole lot smaller. Elbows were becoming barriers behind the barricades so that people could retain their positions in the front row and everywhere you looked cameras were being whipped out and prepared. A thick mist of smoke descended overhead as AC/DC’s Highway to Hell prompted a sing-along that could be heard anywhere in the building. By now, every space available had been taken by a body. Upstairs, downstairs, on the stairs. If you hadn’t found a good vantage point, you sure as hell weren’t going to get one. As the inevitable wait for the headlining act became daunting and the crowd became restless, figures carrying guitars shuffled through the curtains.

With not a second to waste, Perth’s kings of punk rock thrashed into Weapon. Enemy. Friend. from their third studio creation Breed Obsession, which had the room really moving for the first time in a circle pit. Being the day before Mother’s Day, bassist Brad Campbell pointed out the fact that his mother was in attendance, guiding the spotlights up on to the balcony to a beaming, proud parent. They dedicated the atmospheric stunner These Days to all mothers and then slowed things down with The River Between, only to speed things up again with 1981. Coming to the end of the set the band revisited favourite Safe Forever, which saw lead singer and guitarist Daniel Sanders leave the stage to take position on the barricade. Hands went flying in a seagull-to-food situation, whilst guitarist Zoran Trivic, drummer Rob Nassif and Campbell watched on with smiles. In an act of “aww”-ness, Sanders changed the lyrics, “I did it for you girl. Did it for you,” replacing ‘girl’ with ‘Jess’ – his long-time girlfriend’s name.

Darkness once again engulfed the stage as guitars were dropped to the floor. Not having had enough, the audience chanted for more. As usual, the charade of roadies cleaning up ensued and not to disappoint their fans, the boys took to the stage again with the stadium-worthy All In On One, which had the crowd yelling, “Hey, hey!” Soaking in the ovations, Gyroscope capped it off with Snakeskin. It didn’t matter that it had been flogged to death by Channel Ten’s footy ads, as people were either jumping or singing along to this song that demanded movement. There was even the occasional poor effort at crowd surfing. Props to the stripping one, who lasted the longest. Thanking the crowd, Gyroscope left through the barricade, receiving many pats on the back. Well deserved, as their shows leave you obsessing about the next one.

The surroundings changed as spotlights turned in to disco lights and DJs started up their tables. It’s hard to believe that only seconds before we were watching one of the greatest bands to come out of Perth. It was sad that they had left most of their Sound Shattering Sound days behind, but new material was welcomed thoroughly. Haven’t had enough? Look forward to the release of Gyroscope’s next single Australia in the next couple of weeks.