Sydneysiders MM9 (Many Machines On Nine) opened the night and put on one hell of a show. Their hard-edged electro/rock with a twist of industrial definitely stands out in the Australian local scene and I salute them for doing something different – there is no other Aussie band out there with a tech-fuelled solid rock/pop sound, that’s for sure. The stage presence these guys have is undeniable; especially the machine like Ben Ellingworth on drums who went crazy without missing a beat. Frontman Daniel Sutherland’s singing didn’t lack in anything while he smashed down on the keys and Luke Ford and Kerry Foulke, on bass and guitar, seemed in bliss plucking along on their strings. If you haven’t seen them yet, you must do so now. MM9 are going places, so be sure to keep your ears open.

First time visitors SOiL were up next, and from the opening number through to the last they maintained a great energy. SOiL’s unique blend of hardcore/nu metal/hard rock got the gig-goers excited, hardly anyone was standing still and plenty of ear-piercing screams from the girls admiring guitarist, Adam Zadel who was showing off his muscles in a sleeveless Iron Maiden t-shirt. The guys belted out many news songs which appear on their new album titled Picture Perfect, as well as some older tunes which have been re-worked by new front man A.J Cavalier. Tunes we rocked out to included: Breaking Me Down, The Lesser Man, Picture Perfect, True Self, Surrounded and Halo. Cavalier impressed the audience with his vocals ranging from groove, to rap, to throaty screams throughout the set.

After what felt like an hour of waiting, Dope finally rocked the stage. Vocalist Edsel Dope began by telling us it was the band’s first time in Australia and they love it so far, “you guys are all beautiful people, but not you man you’re one weird lookin’ motherf%$ker” picking on a young dude in the front row who had flown over from Perth to see them play. Edsel also told us that Virgin Atlantic lost all their equipment on the way here and their bass player too, in the process. “We had to borrow SOiL’s equipment and their bass player too otherwise we’d be f#$ked”, mocking his guitarist Angel for playing a sunburst Les Paul, “You look funny man”, then launching into Bring It On. It was at this point the whole Corner Hotel was moshing, whilst sticking up their middle fingers in the air.

Edsel was such a character, his interaction with the crowd between each song was quite great, not to mention hilarious. “Hey didn’t Australia start by putting criminals here? Then I’ve come to the right place!” he says, before asking “Anyone in here got any weed?”. Someone actually chucked a joint onstage for Edsel to light up. And after already having skulled one beer at the beginning of the night, he is egged on by the front row to skull another beer with the punters chanting “chug”, but he doesn’t, instead he replies to all the screams with “Oh no, you guys are all criminals, you f%$ken drunk derelicts, I know all about you” then launches into Rebel Yell, the first of three covers. They also played F$#k tha Police by N.W.A. and the last cover is introduced as “the most stupid song you have ever heard in your life” then we hear the opening notes to Dead or Alive’s You Spin Me Round.

Dope’s set featured No Regrets, Debonaire, Everything Sucks, Slipping Away, Violence and Die MF Die. With their politically-charged arsenal, Dope put on one crazy show. Full of raw energy, they got their audience going wild; their attitude and swagger left everyone craving for more. They closed with their newest single Addiction from their new release No Regrets. A great way to end an awesome set, and evening.

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE GIG HERE