Mest @ Amplifier Bar, Perth(19/11/09)

Tue 24th Nov, 2009 in Gig Reviews

If you were cranking pop punk such as The Starting Line, Third Eye Blind and even New Found Glory in your car on the way to school back in 2004, chances are you were probably one of the many who took turns stage-diving off the tiny stage at Amplifier during Mest. The last few shows to hit Amplifier seem fairly mediocre compared to the riot that hit last Thursday, with three local support acts from Here We Ghost, Colour The Sky and Grim Fandago helping the US quartet get the party started.

It’s always exciting when a band tours Australia for the first time. Many Mest fans feared they’d never see them play once the band announced that they were breaking up in 2006, but reformed in 2008 with a new lineup featuring only their original singer, Tony Lovato. Now that they’d finally made it, their first time down-under was guaranteed to be a huge party from the second they walked on stage.

Kicking straight off into the first song off their self titled album, Until I Met You had the second most responsive crowd activity of the night. It was a warm welcome, and before long there were punters running circles around poles and pushing over microphones when they crashed the stage. The band kept quiet for the first few songs in, only pausing briefly between songs to say a few things before getting straight back into the pure punk rock with a hint of angst that’s catchy as all hell… a solid sounding band, especially off record. “You guys are nuts tonight!” Lovato laughs after performing hit single Jaded (These Years).

Right he was, fans seemed to be bouncing off the walls with spontaneous energy, throwing each other into one another and jumping in sync with the band with their arms waving wildly. Some dedicated guy in the corner bought up a beer for the bassist, while less than impressed fans yelled arrogantly at Lovato calling him a “dick” and a “joker” for some of the more politer things said (I’m looking at you, tough guy next to me, screaming in my ear loudly).

Anybody who has been to Amps knows that when the crowd gets rough, there is little to no security to keep things under control. At the end of the show, Lovato invited everyone on stage to party with them while they performed their last song, Cadillac. Unfortunately, half the crowd took him up on the invite and stormed the stage with him, surrounding him and the band to the point of unable to move. “Okay, okay. Some of you have to leave if you want to hear the song.” Even with the stage clear, it didn’t stop people from jumping off amps and crowd-surfing their way to the floor. Mest left with a bang, the performance perfectly complete when Lovato called into the microphone, “No! I will not suck your dick!” Good times, good times.