Saturday 18th June, Rosemount Hotel – Review by Chris Martin

Some things you know are just going to be worth it. THE SILENCE IN-BETWEEN’S EP Launch was one of them. They’ve certainly come a long way from their first gig two years ago and it was marvellous to see all their hard work paying off.

First up were the boys from Ballajura, WING-IT. This was a rather unusual set, drummer Dean Anderson was nowhere to be seen. The band attempted a semi-acoustic set with the aid of a backing track, which looked awkward on paper but was executed live without a hitch. Anderson then appeared… on a projection screen! However that wasn’t the biggest surprise of the night, no sir. A cover of the Katy Perry classic Hot N’ Cold took that honour. Despite the technical issue of the drums being on a backing track the remaining three members fired on all six cylinders. The band then finished with the crowd-pleasing ‘Dancing On The Way Down’ to cap off a set that, given the difficulties of playing without a live drummer, would terrify other musicians.

The next band, who fortunately had all members present and correct was FOOLS OF APRIL. Kicking off with ‘Sweet Honey’ the band soon tore through their set with lead singer Bec Fortune in fine form. High speed rockers like ‘Hush’ and ‘Take It And Run’ alternated with more mid tempo songs like ‘Made To Be Broken’, which featured some nifty drum work from Daniel Parise and ‘Listen’ – which had a white-hot solo from guitarist Cameron Dobie. These guys are total professionals. Simply, you’d be a fool not to see them live.

At around 10:30pm HOSTILE LITTLE FACE hit the stage. The frenzied rush the band got into during ‘I Messed Myself’ showed just how good these guys are live. They’ve got a new album coming out in October, and tracks that should be featured on the album such as ‘Superhero’ and ‘Why So Serious’ have a serious shot at airplay, they’re more catchy than the flu in July. The highlight of their set was crowd favourite ‘Return To Sender’, a song made for getting those phones and waving them. The band finished in a blaze with ‘Lights Off’. This band is going places fast.

Finally it was time for The Silence In-Between to hit the stage. Opening up with ‘Saying Goodbye’, the band wasted little time in establishing a strong performance dynamic. All members were particularly energetic, but guitarist/keyboard player Sacha was a total energy bomb with his wireless unit allowing for complete freedom of movement, both on stage and in the audience. Recent video ‘Mistrust & Deceit’ was a big hit with the crowd, as was the pop-punk sounds of ‘When You Come Home’ and the keyboard tinged ‘Closer’. The band finished with ‘What Really Matters Anymore’ and then it was all over. Obviously what matters to The Silence In-Between is putting on a damn good show, and they can certainly do that. No question.