The mercurial Laura Marling charmed The Forum Theater in one of the finest performances I’ve seen in... ever, really.

There was a thing at this gig that became curiously weird; Battles, a mainly instrumental band using new styles of music composition were playing in a venue with old concrete walls. Walking into particular areas of The Forum and then smelling an odour of dampness was peculiar for a place that looked hugely grandiose from the outside (although I’ve been in venues that have smelt worse). If it was a person, The Forum would be with growing old with dignity as rather than getting painful facelifts to retain its youth.

Arriving at The Forum, I noted several things: there were quite a few people on the drink, there was an abundance of Boston shirts and hats around, and a lot of people were wearing green. It could only be a Dropkick Murphys show...

Although the Forum was already quite full by the time support act Wintercoats (AKA James Wallace) came on stage, most punters opted to drink and chat, which unfortunately meant that their voices could be heard throughout the whole set.

Architecture In Helsinki lit up the Forum on Saturday with an abundantly fun performance in support of their latest album Moment Bends.

It was lucky that Joshua Radin was keen to come back to Australia with his The Rock and The Tide tour. In 2009, his Simple Times Melbourne show was taken hostage by tonsillitis. This time around he was determined to make up for it.

Years ago, I was dragged along to see hip-hop outfit True Live at the Evelyn. It was pretty packed, and they were great, but I never would have dreamed that if I were to fast forward to 2011 I would be watching the two main men from True Live on stage in front of an 18-piece orchestra at a full-to-the-brims Forum Theatre.