Back for their first show of the year, Escape Syndrome rocked up to ANU Bar on Friday night with an army of their local fans in tow. Fellow local band Tonk were meant to be supporting however due to an illness in the band, were unfortunately unable to play but that didn’t stop the rest of the band coming down and showing their support.

For what most of the patrons expected to be a regular night at the bar, they got a whole lot more than their $10 entry fee paid for. Escape Syndrome tore up the room with soaring vocals to start off their set, making it clear why they are a leading force on the Canberra music scene.

For a local band fairly fresh on the scene though, they have quite a good following and as they continued through their set, the back of the ANU bar cleared out pretty quickly as the fans and other curious patrons took to the front. Their replacement bass player (filling in due to Escape Syndrome’s bass player injuring himself in a mountain biking accident) fit in seamlessly so much so that had they not mentioned the change in lineup, it’s likely no one would have noticed.

They gave the crowd a preview of what is to come for Escape Syndrome, playing a host of songs off their upcoming EP which is set to be released in May. One of their new tracks – Daydreams was loaded with heavy guitars making it easy to see why the band lists such influences as 36 Crazyfists and Karnivool. Another new one they played enlisted a lot of help from the crowd (probably due to the fact that Tonk were in the crowd and also appear as guest vocalists on the new EP), Fork in the Road was a lot more poppy and really catchy; it seemed to win over an already impressed crowd. They also had enough time to play a track of their Wrongturnright album from 2007, 2 Sides which pleased the strong female contingent of their fanbase.

The guys have a fairly busy schedule ahead of them over the coming months with gigs being played throughout regional NSW, ACT and Sydney. Keep an ear to the ground for these guys and check their myspace page for tour dates. This is a band that with the full support of local music lovers are destined for greater things.