It’s Sunday night and arriving before 9 (early by anyone’s standards) the gig goers knew what they were in for, with the long queue snaking around the beer garden deck. After single filing (or should I say shuffling) through the door you quickly realise the ANU Bar has been setup for a capacity crowd after selling out before the night and even the last handful on the door being snapped up early.

Local boys Degrees of Freedom kicked off the night playing their style of “melodic hard rock” to an already attentive crowd. Frontman and lead guitarist Ben sings with clarity through their bass-heavy tracks from their self-titled EP including the standout Left Outside and even played a cover of Neil Young‘s Don‘t Let It Bring You Down .

Melbourne trio Calling All Cars supporting Birds Of Tokyo throughout their whole national tour, exploded onto the stage with frontman Haydn already up on the crowd barriers from the get go. The punk rockers are known for their high energy shows and awesome stage presence, they didn’t disappoint, with Haydn’s hyper stage antics and continuously enticing the masses to an air-clapping frenzy. With the main topic of the night being “Who has to work tomorrow?” Calling All Cars dedicated Shake Girl to the dedicated Canberrans who came out the night before the dredded Monday-itis. Playing tracks Soldier On and the catchy Animal off their EP’s including their brand new EP also titled Animal. All The Lucky Ones was a standout with Haydn yelling “Put your fucking hands in the air!” to the crowd’s amusement. Followed by the popular Hey You (thanks to heaps of airplay on Triple J), Calling All Cars’ set ended too soon – a must see for next time!

The 30 minutes it took for the Birds Of Tokyo to set up, gave the full house time to grab a beer and find some standing room. After what felt like hours, they emerged light show and all, to a rapturous applause. First song Broken Bones off new album Universes, had the crowd singing from the first word. Followed by Wild Eyed Boy and Day One’s Black Sheets, the massive crowd was surprisingly tame until An Ode To Death where things got crazier. With no real crowd encouragement, the mixed audience remained fairly under control while Birds Of Tokyo played, pumping out their anthemic soaring melodies one after the other, with frontman Ian Kenny in control. It’s no wonder he’s been named Australia’s premier vocalist by Beat Magazine. Live, his vocals are perfect and armed with his closed-eyed, composure he is captivating to watch. Ian dons the guitar for a few tracks including Train Wrecks and claps the crowd into Get Out, but the big standouts were Head In My Hands, old favourites Off Kilter and Wayside’s first bars already had the crowd going. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better – it did. Birds Of Tokyo closed with the galloping riffs of Silhouettic with the band members getting up on anything they could (including the keyboardist) and I’m sure the drummer would’ve if he could.

Playing a stellar 90 minute set with over fifteen tracks (no joke), ANU Bar punters sure got their money’s worth. As soon as the band left the stage, the crowd who were lining the walls, were slapped in the face with the flicking on of the fluoros, signalling the end of the weekend.