Adding to Adelaide's steady stream of visits from quality touring bands, Midnight Juggernauts came to town on Thursday night.

First up were local band Steering by Stars. It’s difficult to describe the band’s sound in words, but true to their name, they have an almost atmospheric and cosmic-like sound. With a standard instrument line-up (guitar, bass, drums and keyboard), Steering by Stars are able to create a beautiful range of different sounds – helped along the way by the interesting and well-placed use of a xylophone. Throughout the band’s songs, vocals seem to be used more like an instrument, rather than the way in which vocals are used in more typical pop songs, adding to the band’s sound.

Sydney’s Dappled Cities were up next. A well-established band in their own right, the crowd were more than happy to have these guys along in support. The crowd was steadily growing and made their way to the front of the stage as the band began their set.

Dappled Cities’ songs have a more typical indie rock feel and structure to them, which made the band a little different to the two others on the bill. The rock guitars and drums were excellently complemented by keyboard sounds, giving the tracks their more indie feel. The band clearly enjoyed playing the gig, jumping about on stage and generally using the small stage to their full advantage. The band received a great reception from the crowd, no doubt winning over a few new fans on the way.

Last but not least, it was time for Midnight Juggernauts. By the band’s own admission, their last Adelaide gig wasn’t particularly great. Having said this, I’d never seen them live before and they certainly delivered with this impressive, intimate gig.

The first gig of a national tour in support of their new album The Crystal Axis, the band soon had the crowd jumping and dancing around in a mosh that got bigger and bigger as the gig went on. The band’s bass and drums work excellently together, forming a solid rhythm for the catchy synth sounds. “Vital Signs”, off the new album, was a definite crowd favourite, followed by the older, but equally popular, “Tombstone”.

The lighting, smoke machines and band’s stage presence all gave a more stadium show feel to the gig, so you could easily forget you were in a reasonably small venue like The Gov. The band finished the gig with an encore, leaving perhaps their most popular and well-known song, “Into the Galaxy” until last. Here, the crowd were far from shy about showing their love for both the song and the band. It was a fitting end to a great gig.