There was a bigger crowd than expected brewing at the Oxford Arts Factory on Friday night for The Mission In Motion’s headline show. 

Local Sydney band In This Defence began the festivities. With a good mixture of pop-rock and hardcore songs, the band was an improvement from the last time I saw them, and seemed a little more stage confident as well. Their last song, "The Cure" was a highlight of their set.

Blonde Sovereign was to follow, and it felt as if their sound was a little out of place considering the rest of the bands. Their tunes were more poppy and fun-rock rather than the heavier stuff coming from the rest of the bands. Not a bad thing, but maybe it was the wrong crowd for them. However, the guitarist did play the whole set in only his underwear, possibly to gain attention from the crowd, or possibly due to losing some kind of challenge and it being the punishment. Whichever, it was entertaining. Blonde Sovereign weren’t my cup of tea, and I found myself venturing into the gallery to watch a band called The Future Prehistoric, who I was quite fond of. A garage rock sound which was pretty unique and kind of reminded me a little of Regular John (remember them?) but a touch less heavy, during the track "Glassons Vessel".

Back to the main stage, and I was looking forward to seeing an international band, Valencia, from the U.S. Although I hadn’t heard much from this band before, I knew they had toured with some of my other favourite bands including The Audition and Say Anything. Having employed a new drummer, it was interesting to hear their sound live. They were good, but I wasn’t blown away, and it was somewhat disappointing as I found myself wandering back to the other room. Made In Japan were now headlining the gallery, this I was getting right into! Loved their indie rock tunes, and the screen showing a naked man dancing in the background added to the fun atmosphere. Good times. Might even head back to OAF to catch Made In Japan again as they have the November residency in the gallery.

The Mission In Motion took to the stage to a packed Oxford Arts Factory. Never have I seen the Mission play to a crowd this big before at a headline show. I guess their fan base has evolved recently! Possibly due to their album release, Somewhere Safe, from which they played their first song of the night. It was a poppy track, and very melodic, really showcasing the vocalist’s range. The set included tracks "The News", old track "A Curse", "A Calling", "The Window" from their EP, and the first single off the album, "New Skin". A highlight of the set was an acoustic song played by the vocalist and a guest female singer who joined him on the stage as well. During "New Skin", Superman and Batman appeared on stage, set up or from the crowd I’m not sure, but they seemed to have a ball dancing around on stage like two big idiots. The Mission In Motion has surely put themselves at the top of the Australian rock scene with their album Somewhere Safe and have a live show to compliment that.