Live Review: Catfish & The Bottlemen, Bishop Briggs, Bec Sandridge, The Vanns

A chorus of "yews" and "fuck yeahs" welcomed Illawarra legends The Vanns back to familiar territory as the first of many diverse and awe-inspiring support acts for tonight's show. The four-piece rocked their long lush hair along to their indie tunes as the guitars took prominence, with the vocals becoming lost in the mix for a fair chunk of their set.

Repping a multi-coloured track jacket - topped off with accompanying lunges, air kicks, and jumping high knees - Bec Sandridge was emphatically present. Her glossy pop-rock sound took punters' interest most when she performed her infectiously catchy track High Tide. Her time on stage had plenty to offer thanks to her enduring fierceness and intriguing stage persona.

Rounding out the support slots was bona fide up-and-comer, Bishop Briggs. Her presence was immediately felt when the wobbly, electronic bass pulsed across the floorboards and into the hearts of attendees. Unable to stand still and constantly jogging from edge-to-edge of the stage, Briggs' smiley energy resonated brightly. Her piercing vocals were on point, especially when crowd favourites Wild Horses and Matt Corby cover Monday got a spin. Playing with a band who absolutely nailed her electronic studio sound went a long way to presenting an authentic live experience.

"How lucky can one guy be?" sang Dean Martin as Catfish & The Bottlemen emerged on stage to the odd but feel-good song choice - presumably of their own selection. As some attendees took the moment to try out their swing dancing skills, the British lads got positioned and prepared to kick off with what would be a stellar night of back-to-back rock tracks brought forward by charismatic frontman Van McCann.

McCann barely needed to sing the chorus of Soundcheck, since the crowd had it covered for him, setting the standard for how the rest of the evening would unfold. Punters continued to give the band plenty of energy to feed off, evident when a huge mosh pit opened up during Cocoon - though not before a wall of people were erected on each other's shoulders for Postpone. It was a deeply satisfying performance that required little between song conversation - just a whole lot of engaging tunes - relying on an endearingly loyal, and somewhat overzealous fanbase to cover the rest.