Opening the night was ‘one of the most Melbourne bands there is’, Spider Vomit, with members hailing from Beaches, St Helens and Lindsey Lowhand. They played a set of tripped out rock and rolls songs, heavy on distortion coming from one lone guitar, but making enough noise to draw attention. The dual vocals of front people Hanna and Craig were perfectly flawed, shouting out lyrics about nothing in particular, often difficult to decipher.

They had a lazy, nonchalant appeal, though this added to their performance, rather than take away like it would with many other bands.

In the middle slot was the tours ‘Special Guests’ – Regular John, a loud, hectic mess of a thousand genres rolled into one. The two guitars clashed, as the heavy bass riffs wound itself throughout, with the rumbling drums making sure they kept it all together, stoner rock songs played with a punk rock attitude and a clear resemblance to their namesake. It was loud, and their full, energetic sound flooded across the audience. I haven’t seen a band like this in a long time, they had this giant sound, it was ballsy and angry. The quartet hadn’t been to Melbourne in about a year, though this time around I feel as though they definitely made themselves a slew of new and avid fans, myself included.

Then of course, Children Collide. I’ve seen (and written) about this band a thousand times, and tonight was just as electric, manic as their performance when I saw them for the first time over a year ago. The trio seemed genuinely energised by the enthusiastic Ding Dong crowd, a venue they have played (and even worked at) before. They played the favourites, such as ‘Cannibal’, ‘We are Amphibious’ and ‘Social Currency’, as well as playing a couple of songs they don’t usually add to their set, ‘Seasons Changing’ and ‘Marie Marie Pt. II’, with the addition of a new song, nameless song. Though only guitar, bass and drums, Johnny, Heath and Ryan (respectively) make a raucous that many bands could only imagine trying to challenge. Their punk rock performance was fast-paced and intense, songs joined by relaxed and drunken banter. During their finale, ‘Fire Engine’ Johnny threw his guitar up in the air, pulling down tiles of foam board from the roof to them be pulled to pieces by the ecstatic audience. They filled Ding Dong, the sold out show intimate and for me as a relatively long time fan, their punk rock songs still make me just as happy and excited as they did when I first saw them.