Live Review: Motion City Soundtrack

Justin Pierre is every bit the mad (musical) genius he looks.

Hair on end, the eccentric frontman's emotive lyrics ignite a rabid nostalgia within the intimate club and when punters are yelling "yeah, everything is alright!" back to the band second song in, it's no surprise that they grin to themselves, thrilled with the energy exuding from the crowd. The throng of fans front and centre have their arms slung over strangers' shoulders and skinny-jeaned legs fly over the low barrier like paper planes into rubbish bins.

The fans here are of a different breed — they've flogged Commit This To Memory on their CD players through high-school break-ups, blossoming romances, exam failures and general teen angst, and seeing Motion City Soundtrack brings it all flooding back. They smash through Make Out Kids, When You're Around, Time Turned Fragile and L.G. Fuad with flawless execution. Given how cramped the stage is, the band seem to feel no restrictions, moving about as if they're playing an arena stage; keys/synth player Jesse Johnson in particular is so animated, manic and lost in the music, one could watch him for hours.

Between songs, Pierre lightens the mood with odd anecdotes and banter, but when he's not joking around, his strong falsetto steals the show. They stop the show halfway to step off stage, presumably to sort out the sporadic explosions of bass and screeching feedback emitting from the speakers, deafening the whole room. When they're back Pierre begins by prefacing the song reminds him of a cold, long winter, then the band launch into Hold Me Down, a personal highlight for its intimate balladry and sensitive lyrics.

The band kick off their encore with Last Night and Capital H, a couple of newies and an unfathomably fun The Future Freaks Me Out and This Is For Real, save for the sound desk plaguing them again with those "spaceship noises", dampening songs that many punters would have waited all set to hear. Called back onstage for their second encore, a passionate My Favourite Accident serves as their last hurrah.