Reviewed onWednesday January 4 (photo by Ashley Mar)

Local Sydney singer-songwriter Dave Drayton opened up proceedings for the evening. Though he’s usually billed under the alias of Zzzounds, Drayton delivered his unusual form of emo-folk with aplomb, letting the crowd slowly turn in his favour. In between songs, his banter was casual – more akin to playing in front of his mates at the pub than hundreds of people. He closed out his set with ‘Centrelinkin Park’, a song about getting on the dole that won everyone over.

It took Camp Cope exactly 35 minutes to completely sell out of merch once the doors opened, such is the passion their audience brings to the table. From the opening bass notes of ‘Done’, the crowd was hooked into the entire set, singing along at every opportunity. Blasting through the majority of their self-titled debut album, as well as recent single ‘Keep Growing’, Camp Cope were in fine form for their biggest show to date. In between songs, Georgia Maq was as quiet as a mouse, but during the tracks she stood loud and defiant. This was a hell of a set that confirmed why Camp Cope are one of the best up-and-coming bands in Australia today.

If the crowd was loud for Camp Cope, it was deafening for Modern Baseball. The Pennsylvanians walked onstage to the title track of their new album Holy Ghost and went straight into first single ‘Wedding Singer’. The sound of the fans singing the opening lines to ‘Fine, Great’ nearly overshadowed singer Brendan Lukens, and it stayed that way for the majority of the set.

Still, there were a few awkward moments. Unfortunately the shoey isn’t a trend that dropped dead at the end of 2016, with the audience breaking into a demanding chant on four separate occasions during the set, leaving the band to politely decline each time. But for the most part, Modern Baseball looked stoked to be back, with their big smiles, rock star poses, and just mucking around with each other as they went. Four days into 2017, and a few of those present may already have locked in their vote for gig of the year.

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