Les Savy Fav was the first band I truly ever loved. Their album, Inches, was the first album I truly ever loved. But fate is a cruel mistress and barred me from attending their Australian shows due to my age. It took them over half a decade to return, and I was going to make damn well sure I saw them this time. This time it was a sideshow for St Jerome's Laneway Festival at Manning Bar. The venue was reasonably sized, just intimate enough for me to get my chance at rubbing Tim Harrington's sweaty head. First, though, the opening act Straight Arrows had to loosen the crowd up.

Straight Arrows are raw. They are abrasive and loud and it works for them. They seem to be on a strictly punk diet while indulging quietly on juvenile antics when no one is looking. The speakers were not being cooperative and were blowing out their lyrics, forcing the guitars to dominate and tear eardrums to pieces. It felt like a being confronted with a herd of angry wildebeest. They played fiercely and admirably to a generally uninspired crowd, but suffered from a general tone of sameness and repetitive lyricism. Enjoyable if in the right mood.

Les Savy Fav followed with a relatively soft song to begin ("What Would Wolves Do"), especially when considering the shit they kicked up during their Laneway slot. Tim, though, spared no time dressing up and mingling with the crowd in a fugue-like state. He even managed to use this reviewer as a balancing stand as he attempted to stand on the fence dividing the mosh from the stage. Each song provided new antics, with Tim moving to all places of the venue that he could reach with his microphone (which was surprisingly far). Crowd pleasers included "The Sweat Descends", "Patty Lee", and "The Equestrian"; the crowd was also pleased by the lone gunman who jumped on stage and proceeded to ride Tim Harrington, cowgirl style.

As far as sound goes, the venue's speakers were lacking (as they were with Straight Arrows), and Tim often neglected to sing many of the lines due to the vaguely suicidal nature of the stunts he pulls, but the atmosphere couldn't be beaten. The mosh was a seething mass of bodies, most covered in some form of body paint rubbed off from Harrington; Tim even managed to get everyone to lie down on one another during the final song in a strange communal catnap with him at the centre. The band's feverish energy and schizophrenic movements made the show one of the best that can be had, and it required attendance for anyone who wants to have an excellent time.