It must have been a very special Thursday night to see the queue to Metro City larger than any given Ruby Room night. Not often are music lovers treated to a double headlining show with Eskimo Joe and Little Birdy – two of the biggest acts to emerge from Perth in recent times.

An unknowing early audience were lucky to witness Sugar Army stand on, quite possibly, the largest stage on which they have ever performed. With a crowd much larger than their usual ‘Amplifier-sized’ shows, their blend of jagged riffs, rhythmic bass and gunshot lyrics were not out-of-place on this big stage. Impressing much of the audience, Sugar Army should be proud and privileged to be supporting tonight’s gig.

Always a band to go one step further, Little Birdy burst onto the stage with a guitarless Katy Steele sporting new Goldilocks-hair and stage antics akin to a Pink performance as she belted out their latest single After Dark. Churning out a standard hit-after-hit setlist, including Come On Come On and Bodies, Little Birdy could not fail to heat up the crowd for the rest of the night. As well as treating fans with Relapse and Beautiful to Me, it was their cover of Split Enz’s Six Months in a Leaky Boat which ramped up the crowd sing-alongs, arm-waving and even cigarette lighters.

Making a dramatic entrance onto the stage, Kav Temperley stepped onto a pitch-black platform and only a white spotlight on him as he boomed out Beating Like a Drum. With theatrics like this, it’s pretty clear that Eskimo Joe are way bigger than Perth could ever have imagined. Jumping straight into the all-essential clincher Sarah, it would set up an intense night for all fans. Playing mainly songs from their latest album, the Eskies managed to pop in a rare oldie. Claiming it to be the oldest song played that night, guitarist Stu MacLeod started with an improvised twangy guitar solo before flowing into a warmly welcomed Liar.

It wasn’t enough to finish their set predictably with Black Fingernails Red Wine with the crowd growing savagely hungry for more. As the whole band pulled up to the front of the stage with acoustic guitars and snare drums for an intimate Life is Better With You, it coincidentally turned into a night of Finn covers as they made a seamless segue into Crowded House’s Weather With You to end the encore…

.. no, wait – in no time at all, MacLeod comes back onto the stage to play conductor with the audience’s volume dials and Eskimo Joe are back into it to perfectly end everyone’s night with From the Sea. With such stage presence, we can only wish they knock the pants off America as soon as they hit their shores.