The Mess Hall don’t like being compared to other two-piece bands. If you quizzed Jed Kurzel (guitar, vocals) or Cec Condon (drums) on the matter, they’d probably negate the relevance of the number of people on stage. And that’s probably why it doesn’t matter at all that supports for tonight’s show each outnumber the headlining two.

Mink Mussell Creek are still riding high on the exposure they gained with their Next Big Thing run earlier this year. Unfortunately their early start time means the vast majority of punters (including this reviewer) don’t see much of their set at all. But even from just a quick glimpse at this band, you can tell they’ll be playing headline slots soon. Despite one song sounding like a poor man’s Wolfmother, there’s enough happening on stage to entertain and enough promise shown to attract the eye and ear.

The Silents need no introduction. They’ve been playing extensively on the back of Flicker and Flames, which was recorded a couple of years ago and, despite it being the best local release of 2006, doesn’t even begin to demonstrate what they are capable of. The Flicker and Flames tracks still get a run (Nightcrawl, Little People) but the band’s more recent material stands up in its own right. Ophelia could easily be their next big single, while the hooky guitar and drawn-out jams of set closer Futures will no doubt feature in live sets several years from now.

One of the quickest lessons anyone will learn in life is not to tempt fate. The Mess Hall certainly have the goods to prove they’re nothing like the other trendy guitar/drum duos and they’d have no problem proving their point through the music. But since it’s obviously such an important issue to these guys, maybe it’s worth taking a step back and looking at how they shape up when compared to all the other bassless wonders.

The Mess Hall are the complete opposite of gimmick bands like The White Stripes. Jack and Meg White are all about gimmicks. They’re as much about cute black, red and white patterns as they are the music make. Condon belts the living daylights out of his kit with a devilish grin and enough power and precision to give Meg White nightmares. Stage right is Kurzel, whose vocals cover a formidable range, while the sound of his single guitar punches well above its weight… and he’s capable of doing his job without having to dress like Michael Jackson.

Okay so bands like The Black Keys have been making the white-man-gets-the-blues thing quite popular over the past few years but there’s only so much of that ‘gritty’ vocal style one can take before it becomes nauseating. Thankfully, the vocals that most of the trendy duos seem to adopt by default isn’t something The Mess Hall bother with. Kurzel is shows a softer, more delicate touch on tracks like Red Eyes and Sunshine, but within minutes he’s demonstrating the impressive capacity of his lungs in Holes and Lock and Load.

There are a lot of two-pieces that quite simply aren’t real bands. They might sound good, or even amazing, in bursts but even a couple of minutes is often enough time to discover that bands like The Kills’ sound is incomplete and far from the finished article. The Mess Hall’s sound is often minimalist and stripped-back but in tonight’s set there is never a time when their sound appears incomplete. And if the first hour-and-a-bit of the set wasn’t enough to confirm that, the ease with which they rip through Nirvana’s Breed puts all those other duos to shame. Nirvana were known for creating a sound greater than the sum of the parts and Breed is just enough to remind us what sort of ethic The Mess Hall bases itself on.