Live Review: Falling In Reverse, The Brave, Drown This City

Walking into the Astor Theatre on Friday night, the excitement was palpable. A sea of Falling In Reverse t-shirts were lining up against the barrier in anticipation of the night of their wearer's lives.

First out on the stage was Melbourne's post-hardcore rockers Drown This City. Opening up with an epic solo, drummer Anthony Pallas wowed the crowd with his controlled chaos of sound. Unfortunately the wow factor ended there. Alex Reade's lead vocals were underwhelming, though only because they were barely audible. However, their sound improved as they warmed up and, in a genre so heavily dominated by men, Reade's combination of guttural screams and melodic high notes give Drown This City an attention-grabbing edge. Unfortunately despite their hypnotic stage presence, synchronised stomping and head banging, which is usually a winner for showmanship, the vibe was still off by the end of their set.

The second supporting act of the night was Australian metal band, The Brave. Their sound was clean but their stage presence was lacking, and they struggled to pull the crowd out of its aforementioned funk. Lead vocalist Nathan Toussaint gave it his all with vein-bulging passion, yet the crowd remained apathetic. Despite the lack of enthusiasm, The Brave went on to deliver an excellent set with an interesting synth backing track that gave the overall sound an eerie undertone.

When Falling in Reverse finally stormed the stage, the crowd erupted into an upsurge of excited screams and chants. Frontman Ronnie Radke was, as he always is, the ultimate showman, flaunting his spicy dance moves and lyrical prowess. They had the crowd singing along in a fashion close to worship, delighting fans with a range of songs from Falling In Reverse's albums, some unexpected tracks from Radke's mix tape and even some songs from the infamous Dying Is Your Latest Fashion album by Radke's former band Escape The Fate made the cut. Radke's vocals were faultless, hitting every lyric with the passion Falling In Reverse fans have come to expect - he did not disappoint. The set was jam-packed with pounding drums, ear splitting guitar riffs, the signature sound of Radke's voice and an overall sound that oozes the raw talent that runs rampant amongst this band. Falling In Reverse performed flawlessly like true kings of the music scene.