Thursday night Cog fans from across the capital made their way to the UCU Refectory to catch the boys in Canberra once again. The Sydney threesome were joined by New Zealander’s Kora and Jakob providing a unique combination of rock for the Canberra crowd. As always Cog put on a fantastic show, rewarding their increasingly growing fan base with a one and a half hour set.

First up however Jakob kicked off the night, delivering their post-rock drums, bass and guitar driven instrumental set to the very attentive crowd. The only word out of the band for the whole set was a quiet “hello” which just added to the intensity and atmosphere the New Zealanders brought to the stage. The crowd stood still, arms crossed with the occasional head nod, a good sign from a rock crowd. Whilst one track rolled into another, Jakob gave the crowd a taste of what they are all about and a refreshing sound for the Canberra scene.

The largely male dominated crowd seemed to be getting their fill of alco-pops perhaps in anticipation of the K-Rudd taxes kicking in, allowing them to loosen up somewhat by the time Kora took to the stage. Kora, also hailing from New Zealand, immediately livened up the vibe with their rock, dub & roots sound. And despite the Dad joke (“We just flew into Australia the other day, man my arms are tired”), dished out a great set of material from their recently released self-titled album as well as some of their older songs.

But the crowd were at UC on this cold Canberra night for just one thing: Cog. It was a special moment hearing fans singing John Farnham’s You’re The Voice in unison as Cog entered the stage. The Sydney boys played a mammoth 15 track set covering both their sophomore album Sharing Space and debut The New Normal to the crowd’s delight. Despite some sound problems at front of stage (which fans quickly alerted the sound engineer to!), the band played a great set. You could clearly see that they put everything into their live performances. Highlights of the show included Bird Of Feather early on, Resonate, Real Life and The Moves Over. A clear favourite however was What If, which the boys saved for towards the end of the show.

The mostly mellow crowd got a little rough up-front mid-show. Frontman Lucius Borich reminded the crowd they weren’t at a football game and things calmed down a bit, with the mild crowd surfing kept to a minimum by the UCU security guards. It was pleasing to see a band not succumb to the pressure of performing an encore, so after 15 tracks that was it, the lights were on.

As Cog made the walk across the mezzanine level back to the green room, the crowd just stood there gazing upwards and applauding, showing their appreciation to one of Australia’s hottest bands. All in all, another great night on the Canberra scene where beards, black t-shirts and alco-pops reigned supreme.