Locals strike again.

Another overdue post, you say? Oh, why not.

September 5th (my my my, it seems so long ago!) brought an air of anticipation to a grand total of perhaps forty people. Forty people who attended a five-bands-for-ten-bucks gig at the Underground in this humble town of Adelaide, with decent merch prices, and only two bucks for a bottle of water, less than half the usual price! (Yes, that was a highlight for me.)

First to take the stage were All Hallow's Eve, one of the many youthful bands in the Adelaide scene, and sure enough they managed to warm the crowd. Oddly, there was a three-man circle pit forming at their first song, which was certainly a highlight - that and the performance of Mt. Franklin ("Like the water"), in addition to a spontaneous guitarist piggy-back. Guys who can pull off playing on someone's shoulders? I'm sold.

A Lapse in Reality have a good musical sound, a talented bassist, and potential is undenaible, yet sadly, the frontman has no stage presence aside spontaneously stripping his button shirt and tie. That only works if you have sex appeal, mate. One concert-goer remarked that his desire was to strangle said frontman with his own tie. Sadly, that may not have gone down so well with the band.

Next on were Deafening Silence, and that was when the place started to heat up. With an interesting sound fusing elements of prog, thrash and metalcore; a female drummer - something all too rare in metal; and a giutarist who even looks like Kirk Hammett, there's no denying that Deafening Silence are of that special breed of local band who just might have the potential to break out, and while some elements could still use a bit of work, the raw talent is most certainly there. I left with a CD, and am still impressed.

Satoria have already proven themselves among Adelaide's finest, with a progressive sound influenced by the likes of Dream Theater, soaring vocals, switches in sound through songs, and haunting, enchanting keys. Despite only having time for a handful of songs, Godspeed in particular inspired some wild headbanging, motly delivered by keyboardist Lennie and one girl at the front (who may or may not have been yours truly, as it were). An album is demanded. Let us only hope this talented bunch delivers.

Last but certainly not least, Skintilla delivered the perfect closing set, consisting of a good, solid handful of songs from both the Shedding Skin EP and debut album King of Kings. Skintilla are one of those strong bands with a good pub metal sound, typically Australian yet having the potential to appeal to an international market. Whether or not that is a plan for them is a different matter; for now, they seemed perfectly content chatting to the twenty or so people who watched their set, delivering anthems like King of Kings, Fall From Grace and crowd favourite, Sword For Sword. Rock on, Adelaide. Rock on.