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The Clipsal 500 is back in town and there is no doubt that Adelaide really does come alive and combined with Fringe Festival, Womadelaide, Sound Wave and Big Day Out there’s no better place to be.

After a day trackside there is no better way to unwind or crank it up and party to the hilt by seeing some of Australia’s best live acts going one at the Clipsal 500 After Concerts. Night One won the chocolates by a landslide from my perspective.

Flying the Adelaide flag was local indie sensations The Shiny Brights and boy oh boy these guys are really coming into their own. Their set might have been short but they delivered and maybe there next local outing should be a packed house.

The Butterfly Effect proved yet again how great a band they are and I’m full of respect for this band. Only having seen these guys a handful of times I can’t believe what I have missed out on during their earlier years. It was great to hear some new stuff from the Final Conversation Of Kings and their previous album Imago. I don’t know what happened at the end of their set but someone pulled the power and that was that, no extra songs and no see ya later.

Gyroscope stole the show and they played with such intensity and ferocity like their lives depended on it. There was a bit of cocky swagger as they walked on stage but after the massive twelve months they’ve had they can do whatever they like. The band really did feed off the energy off the crowd and the reverse was also true. It was classic seeing lead singer Daniel Sanders jump in to the crowd a number of times for a little crowd surfing. All the big hits were there with Safe Forever, Fast Girl with a breakaway in to Midnight Oils Beds Are Burning, 1981, Australia and wrapping things up with Snakeskin.

The Living End were up next and they would have to be Australia’s best festival band rising to any occasion and there was no doubt that organisers picked the best headlining act for this event. It did seem to take any eternity to get their gear and sound sorted and even when on stage it took three songs to iron out the bugs.

Opening with Raise The Alarm the atmosphere was electric and just when you thought that the crowd couldn’t get any more excitable they did when Prisoner Of Society got an airing. The Living End may have come across as a little to predictable they definitely play up to the crowd’s expectation striking a good balance between old and new. It was great to hear Hey Hey Disbeliever in the set again with Cheney breaking in to Billy Thorpe’s Most People I Know Think That I’m Crazy part way through.

All the staple Living End hits were there with Who’s Gonna Save Us, Roll On and more recent singles Moment In The Sun, Loaded Gun and White Noise. Chris Cheney thought he might have to share a lame joke to fire up the crowd and as he put it – œyou’re already fired up’. It would be a Living End show without Second Solution and All Torn Down then returning for an encore with West End Riot – that was night one.

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