Members of a previous mindset heed no attention to the values of the ‘emo’ generation, which, voiced through its music, has grown more common over the past year but still leaves that unknown quantity in there, leaving space for something different.

This genre of music is more about the expression of emotion from past and present conflicts and values; it’s just told in a different dialect so that it translates easier for the differently tuned ear. Yet, the genre’s aesthetic values are always being questioned leaving the most important question in music at bay, is it good? Eleventh He Reaches London could be an emo band, even though they don’t dress in the black shams of My Chemical Romance and don’t show up with those lopsided hairdos. And by the reactions they’re getting from crowds, yes, they are good.

Eleventh He Reaches London, whose name comes from the story of Don Juan from Lord Byron. In the eleventh chapter, the protagonist reaches London. The name partly reflects the sort of music the band produce: intelligent, at times poetic, and with translations of the human world through an educated mind. Finding this method of approach to fame has taken a little over seven years: Ian Lenton (vocals), Jayden Worts and Jeremy Martin on guitar and Mark Donaldson (drums) all met when they were 17, before bassist Craig McElhinney joined the gang in 2003.

Supporting Eleventh at the gig were two other great up-and-coming heavy local acts. Sparring for Shotgun put a good effort down in front of the early punters, while Tangled Thoughts of Leaving demonstrated their ability to take the middle ground between heavy and melodic, evidently influenced by bands like Led Zeppelin and Muse.

With seven years and a WAMi Award under their belt, the band still have the humble attitude to play an all-ages show at HQ in Leederville – either that or they just wanted to make sure they actually had fans. Which they did, playing to the not entirely full room, ceiling fans on the rapid spin as the heat picks up, telltale signs being from either the dripping band members or the hand meeting brow fans. Even though the sound quality was beyond poor through the first few songs (Lenton’s vocals were unheard during the first song), the 50-or-so in the crowd crowd were all moving somehow. A few long haired gentlemen literally letting their hair down.

They performed a good selection of their best songs, including the slow, haunted beginning Swarming, and the appropriately named Coronation, which really added to that poetic vibe hinted at by the band’s name. While debut album The Good Fight for Harmony goes over and above expectations for any local release, the band added an intensity in their performance that you can’t put on record. Lenton put his utmost effort into all of his songs, utilising the full capacity of what the larynx can actually do, leaving the question at the end of the night: would he be able to speak tomorrow?