They require little introduction to their legion of Australian fans, a home grown favourite from Melbourne that led the synth-rock scene in 2007 with their applauded Dystopia. Since then, Midnight Juggernauts have been making a name for themselves overseas and, at last, we have their much anticipated, although no doubt daunting, follow-up album, The Crystal Axis. This show at The Forum in Sydney would showcase their latest offering, mixed with old melodies that made Dystopia the success both on record and live.

Support heralded from the eclectic Kirin J Callinan (unfortunately missed) and the progressive Dappled Cities. Dappled have a sound that is bigger than Sydney, bigger than Australia, and it is no wonder that they have taken their music further and are playing on stages around the world. But with a host of new songs hoisted upon their hometown crowd, it appears Dappled are using the support slot on this Midnight Juggernauts national tour to test the waters and conjure up the ingredients to create their next masterpiece. While the set failed to excite the Friday night crowd at the Forum, all the ingredients are there. With the right amount of stirring, don’t be surprised to see Dappled ready to take on the world stronger than ever before.

And then, like the theme tune to a lover’s chase in a futuristic blockbuster, doused in blue light and commanding instant attention, the Melbourne trio entered with the superb single Vital Signs from their new album. It is an empowering song, made better live as the sudden change in tune in the latter half sounds more experimental than jarring as on the record. The following ethereal sounds of Shadows and Tombstone really start to shift the crowds, both old favourites that seem to spark more interest than their newer counterparts, whether because of a sense of familiarity rather than actual quality time will only tell.

Shadows is like future retro French noir cinema, but in English. Real funky bass line, evocative of Daft Punk, and loads of lovely layered sythn, but there’s a sort of weird, questioning, almost sinister edge to it. Tombstone’s bizarre vocoder effect coupled with a crazy repeating vocal line about terrordomes and atom bombs makes you kind of feel like you’re listening to the mad max sound track on a high speed merry-round.

_. Lara Vs the Savage Pack _ followed hot on the heels of Into the Galaxy, the aforementioned being a well written track with nice guitar usage that has been picked out by many a reviewer as the best of The Crystal Axis.

The momentum of the gig continuously grew as time flashed by, finishing with Lifeblood Flow. It was a well executed encore, and the frenzy down the front, charged with the lights and bass of The Forum, suggested people were content. Yet I couldn’t help but notice that the back audience were not quite as infected by the performance.

For me, even on standout tracks I got the feeling the band were holding something back. I say this forgiving the drummer, who really is immense, driving energy from the back to make epic noise for a 3-piece. Too often the warped keys and space age electro is brought down to earth with a bang by steady dependable vocals and a reliable rhythms. Many would say this is their signature to success but for the more discerning musos out there, their sound may not stand the test of time.

I read a comment on YouTube underneath Shadows that said: ‘Every time I listen to this song I always get a boner’. This kind of summed out the crowd for me, at least down the front – young, boisterous, and with plenty of testosterone!

For many of the music lovers of Sydney, you could quite easily avoid the Friday and Saturday wasted youth with many of the greatest bands and DJs playing on such obscure days as Mondays (LCD Soundsystem? Forthcoming U2 and Jay-Z? Oh the pain). The fact that this gig came to us on a Friday should be embraced as a further chance to appreciate the music.

Much of the Midnight Juggernauts worldwide fan base can be found in the uplifting arenas of festivals such as Exit, Bennicassim and Lovebox, or has stemmed from shows supporting great dance acts like French connoisseurs Justice. But the 3 piece are the first to say that they are evolving unit and it should not come as a surprise that, three years on, their new album comes along with a new sound. The choice to have Dappled as their support may signify how they would like to have their new material viewed, a reflection of their current state in their personal musical journey. They have a strong grasp on their journey as they pave a path all over the world, and having grabbed our attention so fervently with Dystopia, I admire their guts at not repeating their debut but branching into different territory.

The chosen set list of this gig showcases the mainstream-courting immediacy of their big hits with the necessary down time to draw our attention back to other aspects of their ability. Crystal Axis may not quite captivate the audience first time round but in a genre that can be susceptible to short lived fame, I believe this is a well structured step to eluding that fate.