It is going to be a good, good year. Why? On only the second day of 2007 Perth was treated to a performance by two of America’s premier singer-songwriters, John Vanderslice and the poetic genius of John Darnielle, aka The Mountain Goats.

With only two acts on the bill, DJ Ryan Grieve became a welcome third. Playing a chilled but upbeat collection of tunes that seeped there way into the steadily building crowd’s mindset.

In a scene that is constantly bombarded with ear splitting bands that seem to compete amongst themselves for the title of loudest and most obnoxious, it was a welcome surprise to see a stage setup that consisted of two guitars, a bass and a simple bass amplifier; perhaps song writing may be on the real theatre on show. Vanderslice took to the stage for the first time in Australia to steady applause, picked his guitar up and was ready to go.

Playing solo as apposed to with his usual band, Vanderslice, or as we would later learn JV, settled into the pose of a true entertainer. He supplied a very eager and willing to listen crowd a selection of songs, displaying both his ability as a guitar player and his haunting yet comforting vocal range. Considering that many in the crowd had never heard his name let alone his music, Vanderslice seemed to be able to captivate and engage them throughout his set. As Peter Hughes of The Mountain Goats joined Vanderslice on stage for closing number Pale Horse, the crowd clapped along throughout, showing that JV had endeared himself to the new crowd with a set of superb songs played by a supreme artist.

A hush came over a very eager crowd as 10:30 approached. Darnielle and Hughes stepped onto the stage and the hush becoming excitement. As Hughes moved his hands up and down his bass playing the opening lines of Wild Sage and Darnielle quietly strummed the opening chords and whispering his opening prose into the microphone, the crowd became deafly silent. Throughout their opening song the respect and absolute attention supplied to them by the 500 plus crowd was extraordinary. Quickly jumping into up-tempo You or Your Memory, Darnielle’s distinctive vocal range echoed throughout the venue.

Dance Music, a song about a childhood record player further punctuated their unique sound over the heads of a crowd lapping up the honesty and charisma of a band totally at ease with their instruments. Darnielle and Hughes produce a wall of sound that draws you into their lyrical world of relevance, honesty, depression and occasional hope. They are as witty in between songs as they are during their songs. Get Lonely, the title track from their most recent album, was again honoured with deafening silence from the fully engrossed crowd. Couples hugged, friends looked at each other and smiled, security guards removed their deaden stares.

Explaining the reason behind the next song, Broom People, Darnielle pierced the silence with laughter. A song described as “a song about when your friends just don’t understand that you have to be having as much sex as possible,” he showed his amazing range as a singer in the space of two songs, going from drawing his audience into a quiet, secluded world to an upbeat exploration of the human psyche. Hughes’ bass accompanied Danielle effortlessly, supplying both the melody and the rhythm in complete unison. As JV returned to the stage to join the pair, he bulked up the sound and enticed the crowd further into their show. New Monster Avenue and Half Dead rocketed across the thriving venue, the crowd engaged in a show that showed both the courage it takes and the reactions one can get by showing your soul to strangers.

The band finished with radio gem and aptly-titled This Year but returned for a bass-driven song about stalking and the brutally honest No Children - a song declared by Darnielle as being for “when you think your heart can’t get any blacker. “Llisten to this song to realise that mine is worse,” he adds. Considering that it was only the second day of 2007, it’s possible that we may all just make it through this year.