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Unseasonably warm for a Canberra winter (and I use the term warm very loosely) the uni kids and rockers were out in full force cramming into ANU Bar for a night of cold beer and awesome music. If you’ve yet to witness a Mammal gig then you seriously have no clue what you’re missing out on. The boys tore up the stages at ANU in a performance that had so much energy it could have powered Canberra for a week.

Up first was a band whose name has become synonymous with the words “Rock show – Canberra”. Escape Syndrome blasted out the ANU speakers once again to a slightly less than engrossed crowd. While most were happy to chill around the pool tables and stock up on drinks for later, Escape Syndrome entertained those that were too lazy to get up from where they were sitting along with their faithful following down the front. The boys never fail to impress, their tunes are high powered and catchy and their stage presence, inspiring. They are tight on stage while still managing to have a little fun. The band, constantly gigging has managed to secure some pretty awesome support slots over the last 12 months but may need to start being picky with who they devote their time to or may run the risk of becoming over-exposed.

It’s not often a band really grinds my gears and to be fair it really was not their fault at all. How a band can spend a half hour between sets doing sound checks and still manage to fuck it up is beyond me. The crowd waiting for The Evening Son to take the stage were left waiting a little too long when their set change/sound check took 45 minutes. The crowd were patient and ready to give this band their full attention but for all our efforts we were met with screeching feedback that continued on almost right through their set. Probably the only time that our poor little ear drums were spared was when the vocals were turned down so low they may as well have been playing without their vocalist. That said, their music was fantastic, they were solid and produced some wicked tunes that ordinarily would have won the crowd over.

It didn’t take long before the crowd packed themselves into the small area in front of the stage, salivating for Mammal’s entrance. The crowd was buzzing, beers in hand knowing that very soon they were about to witness one explosive live show. The independent boys have made quite a name for themselves over the past couple of years, proving that you don’t need a record label to go places in this biz.

Kicking off their scorching set with Majority, vocalist Ezekiel Ox appeared onstage with the Aboriginal flag hanging from his microphone and bouncing around the stage. An incredible front man for the band, Ox sucks you in and puts you in a trance-like state where you can’t help but hang from every word he says, as preachy as it can sometimes be this man has his views and he’s prepared to share them.

It’s been a busy few months for the Melbourne boys touring all across the country and leading up to a tour in the UK. You couldn’t tell though by the energy they had conjured to perform this show. Amping up the crowd, Ox demanded participation and of course we were all more than happy to oblige. Ripping into their next track Hell Yeah Ox was all but swinging from the rafters while Nick Adams on bass looked as though he was having the time of his life, mirroring the mood of the crowd.

In what may be an ANU first, Ox performed a welcome to country, thanking the owners of the land for allowing us to be there which somewhat dumbfounded the crowd at first but they were quick to unite with him. Mammal treated us to one of the more recent tracks, Mr Devil, a booty shakin’ track which was their version of bootylicious.

Heading off to the UK in September playing a number of sold out shows, we will barely have time to miss the boys as they return for another line up of show in Australia including Sounds of Spring in Brisbane and the Westdale Rock Festival in WA.

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