Live Review: City Calm Down, Lilt, Problems

Having completely sold out their national tour weeks in advance, it was hardly a surprise to see the line for City Calm Down's show at Jimmy's Den stretching down James St and around the corner before doors. The band has become a massive success story over the last six months since the release of their debut album In A Restless House, and a mix of young and old turned up full of spirit to enjoy what was a solid evening of quality Australian music.

Adelaide's Problems began proceedings early, encouraging the crowd to ease themselves towards the stage and warming everyone up with a range of smooth, electronic-tinged beats, complimented by Shane Lock's versatile vocal range – his high end was particularly impressive. With an EP on the verge of release, these boys are certainly ones to keep an eye on. There was a lengthy wait between bands as locals Lilt were troubled by technical issues, and the devastation was clear in vocalist Louise Penman's face as the band conceded having to cut their set significantly short. It was a total shame because, thankfully, Penman was able to keep it together and demonstrated with aplomb why she's got one of the best voices around town.

The now packed out venue was literally heated up and saw punters continually jostling for the best spot in the house. Luckily City Calm Down weren't faced with any of the same issues as Lilt prior to their set - the lights dimmed to indicate their entrance and a cheer erupted from the crowd as the Melbourne group launched into Border On Control. All were treated to singer Jack Bourke's supreme on stage performance immediately, soaking up his velvet-like baritone and marvelling at the way he channels Simple Minds in his dance moves. A brass section was introduced and provided an extra edge throughout a number of tracks, as the band worked through Pavement and Wandering, before the gospel-tainted single Son saw the crowd – who had been quiet until then – finally chorusing along throughout the whole tune.

They brought their Like A Version cover of Foals' Spanish Sahara into the mix, before kicking it up a notch with the almost thrashy Falling, while the '80s-inspired Your Fix and broody Rabbit Run brought the momentum to an all time high. A surprise cover of David Bowie's Let's Dance was a stroke of genius by the group, who pulled it off in spectacular fashion, before closing out the set with their album's title track and bidding all a fond farewell. City Calm Down are consistently proving that they are well and truly worthy of being one of the most momentous bands in the country, and Perth can only hope they're back on our side of town in no time at all.