With increasingly popular headliners Jericco, this night at Mulgrave's Village Green Hotel hosted a perfect mesh of talented upcoming Melbourne bands.

The Village Green is an odd little venue; a small stage and dark gig room separated thinly from the family pub atmosphere just outside. Though this wasn't enough to detract from the power and talent of Jericco, along with their unique and talented supports. First up were Slayain, and although I sadly only managed to catch the end of the set (which featured an excellent Nirvana cover), they played powerfully and had the night off to a great start.

The real treasure of the night's supports was in Puppet Society. A cross between The Butterfly Effect and perhaps early Killing Heidi, this band has a talented female vocalist and some brilliant, intricate guitarwork amongst catchy heavy rock melodies. With a unique sound and undeniably talented musicians, Puppet Society played a great set despite the small crowd, and are definitely a band to look out for on the Melbourne music scene.

Next band The Soulenikoes had a great stage presence, but a bit of a lacklustre performance. Although, with a very Birds of Tokyo-esque sound, this band definitely had a few fans in the crowd, and some few very well-written and well-executed songs.

Before the headliners were Alex Anonymous, another band which should soon be taking the Melbourne music scene by storm. They had beautiful dual vocal harmonies between the guitarist and bassist, some very well-written tracks (one I believe titled "Tripping Over", which was a highlight), and an overall incredible performance. A truly impressive and unique Aussie alternative band.

Finally the stage was set for Jericco, and suddenly the crowd grew much larger and much more excited. Not being familiar with the band, I didn't know what to expect, but this performance blew me away. Their enigmatic frontman captivated and kept the attention of everyone in the room and was obviously incredibly comfortable on stage. It was instantly clear why this band already have such a strong following; every song was awash with the crowd singing back as Jericco blasted through tracks like 'Monsters'and 'Sun'. By the end of the set the crowd was left wanting more, and it was very clear to see why.

Overall this was an incredible and inspiring mix of bands, all with a similar Karnivool/ Butterfly Effect/ Dead Letter Circus sound, and a comforting reminder that passionate and talented alternative bands still exist on the Aussie music scene.