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For a venue that is a bastion for heavy rock, indie punk or even vintage folk and blues, Amps wasn’t holding up its reputation as Young Revelry mounted the small stage on saturday night. There were perhaps more staff than fans filling the grungy and awkwardly sparse stretch of wilderness. Apart from bass player, Tom King’s harsh and vitriolic vocals, the atmosphere was like an unexpected night stuck on the Nullabor.

The four-piece rock collective delivered a short and exciting set filled with a mishmash of sounds mirroring music created by The Dandy Warhols, Radiohead and at times, Brooklyn band TV on the Radio. With a tight-knit bunch of onlookers gathering, energy in the crowd stepped up a level towards the end of the set.

It came crashing down again as Sydney’s Jack Ladder uttered the first of many unidentifiable lyrics that made up his raw balladry of lost love blended with a touch of old-school blues. Although melodious and somewhat soothing to the worn-out soul, the angst accompanying his sad and foreboding voice didn’t rock the socks off any regular rocker or stare-bear.

If the Moaning Myrtle drone was wearying, guitarist Kirin J Callinan, at least provided a humorous and entertaining exhibition. Galloping on the spot like a runaway foal, Callinan stared beadily into the darkness of the crowd, smiling like a clown on coke and seeking the attention of all eyes to witness a wondrous performance that would give even Tomas Ford a run for his money.

Despite this pandemonium of noisy lament, perhaps it is the unashamed exposure of sensitivity and honesty throughout the set that makes Jack Ladder an indie-blues heartthrob to some and an artist producing tunes defined as ‘classic’ and ‘unique’ to others.

On tour for their second album, Oozevoodoo and set to play alongside the likes of Powderfinger, Lily Allen and Muse at BDO 2010 expectations of the night’s headline act, The Scare, were high.

Perhaps too high.

Hailing from Queensland and with their debut 2007 album Chivalry a stand-out, the crowding, beefy-bodyied collection of fans were ready for more. Taking to the microphone in tattered black, frontman Kiss Reid roared through the jubilant first song of the set and first track from Chivalry, Bats! Bats! Bats!

The fun, forthright and veracious lyrics dramatically shouted during I’m Desperate cut the bullshit and gave fans a realistic and honest perception of what Oozevoodoo is about. The gritty, untamed frustration of progressive punk was unleashed upon the leering lovers of roughed up rock as Surgery and i’ll-get-stuck-in-your-head war-cry tune No Money followed with crowd approval.

The maracas were out on display as the screeching, almost inaudible As He Walks began and drummer Samuel Pearton fired off a riotous tantrum of unshackled intense rhythms as I Saw Destruction threw the devilishly behaved devotees into disarray.

The softer sounds of Cyber Love and ironically modest tempo during She Can’t Say No that vibrated through the assemblage were a change for the soon to be cochlear-implant-needing front row.

Lucid Dream proved, unlike the boppy, tight pop-rock composition belonging to Franz Ferdinand, to be a synthesized infusion of clever discord and familiar lyrics.

The band’s current hit single Could Be Bad was unfamiliar to die-hard fans initially, as the clamourous, explosive voice of Reid drowned out any form of recall or immediate recognition. Once it became clear, Reid’s tattered shirt came off and fully-grown men were acting like tweens at a Britney concert. Reid staggered, sweating with stamina and unrelenting energy amidst this astounded posse, enchanting them by offering the microphone for the purpose of yelling in an obtrusive and shameless manner.

The final anthem for the set, Cry, ended with Reid lying on the floor in the audience in a dramatically arrogant pose that deterred from the song’s merciless lyrics and the provocatively intractable achievement occurring on stage.

Although it was a successful set of ‘cleansing and rebirth’, there was nothing chivalrous or supreme offered. Perhaps it would have been less disappointing if initial expectations weren’t so high.

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