The recent spate of violence at the Queensbridge Hotel resulted in a rapidly renamed Bazaar (which ironically debuted at the same venue last year) shuffling punters across town. On the upside, the change of scenery also allowed for a different demographic of gig-goers, but whether that was a positive or a negative is completely up to each individual.

Featuring some of the best local bands, the night could have done with Triple M MC Daniel Gawned who’s only useful function on stage was to hand out drink vouchers for the audience. Public speaking was definitely not one of his better skills, and the event could have benefited from not having an MC in place.

Jericco, fresh off a successful EP launch a mere fortnight ago, opened up the set with an extended jam, which allowed guitarist Jordan Nagle and bassist Roy Amar to not only share the spotlight, but also to rev up the crowd, anticipation rising to a fever pitch.

Vocalist Brent McCormick emerged to rapturous cheers of adulation. Clearly Jericco had a fan base here, albeit small, but the magic disintegrated the moment vocals kicked in. McCormick is the frontman package – charismatic, imposing and captivating, with a killer set of pipes thrown in, but tonight, every move appears contrived, and his on stage performance stands out from the rest of the band like a sore thumb.

Despite this, the solidity and tightness of the other members, fused together to create a set that lingered in the recesses of the mind, even after the set was over. There’s something about Jericco that is every bit as intriguing as it captivates, leaving the listener yearning to discover more.

Next up in the Bazaar’s bag of tricks were local stalwarts Rook, opening the set with Come, from the Add Colour EP. Undoubtedly one of the happiest bands on the line up, judging by the huge grins exchanged between band members, the pure joy rolling off the stage encompassed, and eventually woke up a rather quiet and tame crowd, who were defenceless against the unbridled energy emanating from diminutive front man Forbes McKail.

Much to the delight of the die-hard fans, The List made a reappearance on the set, after a conspicuous absence at the past few gigs around town, prompting a united arm waving movement from the aforementioned crew.

The Jury Decides finished off the too short set, which saw the first serious mosh pit of the evening. By this stage of the night, the room had filled up, leaving little doubt that many punters were willing to follow said line up to the other side of the city.

Dukes of Windsor were undoubtedly the square pegs in the circle of bands on the line up, and it was going to be interesting to see just how they would fare.

Dukes appealed to the contingent who had looked bored with the previous offerings on stage, but the difficulty in engaging the greater contingent was clearly written on the face of vocalist Jack Weaving. Despite the lack of enthusiasm from the punters, Dukes upped the ante with their performance, combining a great lighting show with an energizing effort from the band as a whole. Set closers No Disguise and It’s a War managed to rouse punters ever so slightly, and if one was to judge the best performance on the night based on effort exerted, Dukes of Windsor win hands down.

Trial Kennedy have copped their fair share of criticism for being an arrogant, petulant performers who posses an impressive, crowd pleasing catalogue of songs. Tonight, it was almost as if the lads from Trial Kennedy turned the tables on dissenters, determined to prove that not only had they matured as musicians, but also, that they were more then deserving of the main support slot.

Vocalist Tim Morrison possesses one of the best voices in the local music scene, and despite the issues with sound (which went unnoticed, unless one was really focused), Neighbours, Sunday Warning and Colour Day Tours went down a treat with the crowd, whose enjoyment and adulation levels soared with every song.

Judging by the Mammal shirts liberally sprinkled in the crowd, there was little to no doubt who many of the punters were here for, with impromptu cheering bursting out each time any member of the quartet appeared on stage – regardless of what they were doing at.

If front man Ezekiel Ox wanted to rest his voice tonight, he probably could have, with the crowd near drowning him out.

Mammal are renowned for being one of, if not the, best live act kicking around Australia at the moment. With their tried and true formula of an energetic, larger than life vocalist in the form of Zeke; the hyperactive Nick Adams on bass; the talented and relentless Zane Rosanowski drumming away in the back and towering guitarist Pete Williamson; there’s little to suggest that boring could come anywhere near a Mammal show.

Maker often pauses in the bridge, allowing Zeke to rouse the crowd into singing the backing vocals as a choir, but that fell apart completely tonight as the mosh pit swelled in earnest as punters enjoyed the first Mammal pub show in over half a year.

The inclusion of a violin for Religion didn’t detract from the classic Mammal sound, but actually enhanced the bridging riff, of which Williamson was given centre stage to showcase his skill.

The Tempo and the Groove debuted tonight, reassuring fans that Mammal were in fact writing for the upcoming new album. Not knowing the words wasn’t an issue – the huge riffs and the fat, driving drums kept the mosh pit well and truly alive.

In typical Zeke style, the last third of the set was punctuated by little breaks where he told the crowd about the various causes to throw their support behind – unfortunately, this was also the part of the night where they lost the crowd slightly.

Tonight, Mammal had it all: the impromptu photo shoots, crawling on top of the speaker stacks, plugging the upcoming gigs – there is little that wouldn’t receive cheers and applause, such is their skill in captivating an audience.

Despite the late finish, punters poured out of the Ferntree Gully Hotel sated from the Bazaar tonight. Any reservations about the line up were quickly swept away by the sheer professionalism and talent that many were privy to tonight.

CHECK OUT THE AMAZING PHOTOS HERE