With Melbourne’s previously glorious summer weather having descended into a thunderstorm during the week, those crammed into the sold out Prince of Wales could be forgiven for having shared a smirk at the seemingly untimely commencement of the On The Beach tour.

But main attraction Dallas Crane – dropping into their own city halfway through a national tour with buddies Tim Rogers and the Temperance Union - did their best to bring the heat to St. Kilda by flogging official ‘Crane branded beach balls, Frisbees and beach towels , along with the traditional CDs and t-shirts, at the merchandise desk.

Dallas Crane and Rogers’ latest project are the ideal tour match. Not only do both acts shine in sweaty, seedy, jam-packed rock clubs like this one, but their respect for each other is mutual and obvious – Rogers name checked the Crane in You Am I’s 2001 single Who Put the Devil in You?, while like so many of their contemporary Australian rockers, the Crane indulge in some You Am I fandom of their own.

Rogers and cohorts strut on stage, Rogers dressed in a vintage suit, the look completed by a straw hat and children’s face mask on his eyes. The set predictably draws heavily from latest double album Dirty Ron/Ghost Songs, with a couple of tracks from Rogers’ solo debut What Rhymes With Cars and Girls? thrown in for good measure. Highlights include Triple J favourite Do It Again, the frantic country riffs of Dumb and Brother’s Room. Bassist Pete Lawler has the rock moves down pat while Rogers owns the stage – as he’s done for over a decade, now – prowling around, strutting, preening and posing, playing his guitar as a rifle and ‘shooting’ punters. It’s an enjoyable set, and over too soon.

But most of us are here for the homegrown heroes and as they walk on stage and tear into Ladybird it’s clear to see why. The band is impeccably tight, seemingly even more so than usual, and their grins to each other after a well received track and frontman Dave Larkin’s sincere thanks to the crowd reflect the sort of humility that Australians seem to love – given Powderfinger’s popularity, at least.

A clean shaven Larkin – with a new, short haircut – continually gets up close and personal with a fans, the lack of a punter barrier allowing him to almost touch noses with the crowd.

The set is heavy on the band’s latest self-titled album – the back to back blast of Iodine and Can’t Work You Out early on is a highlight – while throwing in a couple of oldies and new offerings into the mix. The new songs follow the same radio friendly lead of Numb All Over whilst retaining the renowned Crane rawk stylings – all suggesting that the band’s next album could be their best yet.

The crowd goes nuts for the likes of Sit On My Knee and No Through Road while Numb All Over (now complete with four-part harmonies) and Dirty Hearts round out the hour-long set.

There’s no fancy backdrop, no fancy light show, very little banter from Larkin, and – save from guitarist Pete Satchell’s skintight Young Heart Attack t-shirt and white belt – they barely even look like rock stars, rather four blokes with a penchant for music, beer and sport. Their ‘every man’ look is certainly part of their appeal, judging by the crowd – the room is full of drunk boys in AC/DC t-shirts who, you suspect, would judge Crane ‘the best fucking rock band around’ in a heartbeat.

The band invites an inebriated Rogers back up on stage for the encore, a cover of the Rolling Stones‘ It’s Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It). By now, Rogers’ eye mask is half over his eyes, half over his head, but he still manages to whip out his best Jagger strut much to the crowd’s enjoyment.

And that’s it, it’s all over. The tour serves two important purposes – one, it represents Dallas Crane in what must be career-best form – filling the biggest rooms of their lives with a new crowd and killer new songs to boot, and two – it demonstrates that we don’t need to look at the UK for the next big thing in rock – it’s right here on our doorstep.

Only problem is that I won’t get much usage out of the beach ball until next year…