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Emperors are proving to be a consistent live act. The five-piece play indie rock that is peppered with loud guitars and harmonies. While these harmonies were sometimes a bit iffy, the band had a raw, organic feel like they’d come straight from practising in their garage. Favourite Colours is still their best song, and a great song at that, but it stands out from the rest of their set as far superior. If all their songs were this good Emperors could be an anthemic force to be reckoned with.

Young Revelry have fashionably indie hairstyles and outfits that don’t really predict their musical style. The four boys obviously were giving it their all. Dark jamming seemed to be their expertise with angsty, shouty lyrics blasted alongside loud guitar riffs. Whoever was on volume control must have liked it as it was pummelling into our eardrums with knees wobbling from the bass vibrations. A substantial crowd gathered during their set to see what all the ruckus was about then stuck around for more. August 30 is when fans can grab their EP.

And finally, Sugar Army. This group of men showed their experience as they were definitely the crispest outfit of the evening. The slicked back appearance of their lead man Patrick McLaughin ’s hair represented their polished nature that shone through from start to finish. They were the winners of the melodious category of the evening with lyrically diverse songs that could be easily sung along to (and were).

Their stage setup was simple, yet effective, with a red hue emerging from rows of lights shining out from the sides of drummer Jamie Sher. The band required no warming up and easily launched into their set of rock songs. Front man McLaughlin made it all look so easy, he was like a ringmaster as he stood staring expectantly into the crowd of clowns without a glimmer of insecurity. Fair enough, he can be cocky as he and his band can deliver the goods. His faultless vocals were reminiscent of a less nasal, less androgynous Brian Molko. Drummer Jamie Sher was banging his kit with such vigour it was surprising his large country hat didn’t fling off on a downbeat.

As the cool kids started streaming in later in the set many stopped seemingly to realise, hey I know this song. Sugar Army may well pass the cool test, with a daft punk interlude mid song that was surprisingly their own and showed off the instrumental talents of Todd Honey and Ian Berney. New song In Control fit well into the set of power songs from album The Parallels Amongst Ourselves. The crowd were happy with their spoonful of sugar from one of Perth’s most expert outfits.

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