Live Review: Silverstein, Comeback Kid, Belle Haven, Earth Caller

First on tonight's line-up, Melbourne's own Earth Caller kick off the evening. The melodic five-piece bring to the stage a taste of what's been brewin' in our own backyard. The band's high-speed riffs are difficult for our feet to keep up with, but their intermittent breakdowns allow those who have overexerted themselves to catch their breath during heartfelt choruses. Obviously stoked to be given this opening-slot opportunity, the Melbournian hardcore heads get us ready for what's next.

Following a brief intermission, Belle Haven take to the stage to present more music from Melbourne's post-hardcore scene. This five-piece evoke a sense of screamo nostalgia through vocalist David De La Hoz's high-pitched screams and bellowing choruses, which are carried by the strength of their rhythm section; Tom Mitchell weaves his bass notes through Jake Zammit's pounding drums, which are complemented by the intricacy of Christopher Vernon and Daniel 'Mara' Marinakis's guitar riffs.

Comeback Kid open their set with an explosion of energy as they begin with GM Vincent And I. During their second song, False Idols Fall, our first crowd-surfer for the evening goes up before he is pulled over the security barrier by the big, burly guards standing in front of the stage. Following on from Wasted Arrows, frontman Andrew Neufeld thanks us for our applause in French ("Merci beaucoup"). "Maybe it's a bit weird having Silverstein and Comeback Kid on the same line-up, but we're both kinda from that 2004 era," Neufeld continues. Tonight's crowd is a mixed bag of the hardcore and emo kids who have since grown up, but still feel passionate about this genre. "This song is for our original hardcore fans," Neufeld says before kicking into Somewhere, Somehow. Neufeld soon encourages us to "bring this place to its fucking knees!" before our favourite Canadian hardcore band finish with the anthem of the era, Wake The Dead.

Silverstein begin with new song Ghost, and quickly instruct us to "start a fucking moshpit!" We score a generous amount of songs from their new album, Dead Reflection, and jump around to the familiar sounds. We attempt a Mexican-mosh-wave during Sacrifice before an acoustic intro to My Heroine before the rest of the band rejoin vocalist Shane Told to finish the song. The band's "last songs" include Broken Stars, Discovering The Waterfront and, finally, The Afterglow, which we devour before exiting 170 Russell.