You can tell a lot about a band’s appeal at a gig from the haircuts of those around you. Exhibit one: a stadium full of mullets in mint condition from the 1980s at AC/DC earlier this year. Exhibit two: at the other haircut extreme are the reverse mullets of indie kids eyeballing one another from under long fringes at just about any live music venue north of the river, any day of the week.

Scanning the crowd gathered at Festival Hall for Temper Trap last Saturday night, the front-to-back ratio of haircuts struck a perfect median on the mullet spectrum scale. Indicating, perhaps, that Temper Trap can lay claim to Aussie rock’s middle ground.

Saying that, Temper Trap pulled a crowd more racially diverse and less blokesy than your average Aussie rock band. Whether it’s to do with Temper Trap having a front-man in Dougy Mandagi who is – for once – not the whitest boy alive or whether it’s more the product of Australia being less white-bread overall, it’s hard to say. There was a sense that Temper Trap’s generation of Aussie pop rock is somehow different. Less bogan, if you will

Then again, there was still a lot of Bundy and coke splashing around and girls introducing themselves to burly guys with the thickest and reddest of necks. One petite girl in the midst of the melee started to lose patience with it all at one point, mercilessly thwacking two shirtless footballer types who kept climbing onto each other’s shoulders and falling off into the crowd; perhaps not something one would think to see in Acca-Dacca’s day. So there we have it. Live music in Australia: Moving Forward.

So less about hair and more about music, which is difficult when talking about support act Joy Formidable from North Wales and their front-woman Ritzy Brian. Now she’s got a head of hair. Following on from a solid opening by first support act Oh Mercy, the blonde indie bombshell and her band belted out their slick but somewhat neutered brand of neo-90s grunge.

Greeting Temper Trap as they took the stage was a cheer brimming with the genuine exuberance of a hometown crowd. We cheered extra loud because we love them for being from Melbourne. And they said they loved us because we’re from Melbourne. We cheered them for saying they loved us for being from Melbourne because they’re also from Melbourne and it was just all of us in Melbourne, loving ourselves sick.

All in all, Temper Trap’s performance did not disappoint. Live, it’s a joy to hear Temper Trap’s guitar progressions soaring together with Dougy’s rich falsetto, lifting up almost every pair of hands in the venue along with them. Tracks like Fader and Science of Fear may make the rounds on footy final promos and car ads but that’s because these tracks are pure anthems that get you clapping and singing along with tone-deaf abandon.

At times, sound issues let did let the band down. It was nearly impossible to hear what Mandagi was saying in between tracks. The acoustics of the venue meant some of the more delicate tracks like Sweet Disposition and a couple of new ones we couldn’t catch the name of didn’t pack nearly the same punch as when Temper Trap played at last year’s ARIAS. Good old Festival Hall. It’s like some sort of enormous high school gym you’d see in a Nirvana clip except everybody could do with smelling a bit more like Teen Spirit.

Although Temper Trap didn’t disappoint, they didn’t exactly blow anybody’s minds. Singing along with every line, the adoring crowd were so familiar with each track, Temper Trap could’ve treated them all to a little more experimentation with the arrangement.

The only track significantly reworked on the night was Resurrection, a highlight of the gig which showed the band to be clearly capable of keeping us on our toes. And a cover here and there wouldn’t go astray. With Mandagi’s vocal range, Temper Trap could work surprising wonders.

Theatrically, Temper Trap put on a strong finish with Drum Song; Mandagi pouring water onto half a drum-kit he had dragged up front of stage, beating along as water splashed off into the crowd.

All of which goes to show: everybody loves a show-pony. And this is why Temper Trap need not play it as safe as they do as with such a fan base, they can afford to take more risks. Otherwise they will be but a blip on the Aussie rock radar, rather than live up to their potential to redefine the genre as we know it.

CHECK OUT PHOTOS FROM THE NIGHT HERE