The Hopetoun Hotel is one of my favourite venues in Sydney. Intimate and welcoming it has retained its old world charm and is a great place to see a band up front and close. When you can see 3 local bands for $10 it's a winning recipe.

The headlining act were The Dolly Rocker Movement and they were very impressive. With eight members on stage their sound was epic. Echoing the psychedelic sounds of the sixties they still manage to bring a fresh approach to their music. The combination of wall of sound guitars, frenetic drumming, pounding keyboards provided an able canvas for the highlight, the vocals. The two girls in the band were great bookends for Daniel Poulter. Echoing Jim Morrison, he was a whirling dervish on stage, living every lyric and dancing to every guitar lick and drum beat. Also each song was turned into a ten minute epic with extended jams which at times were quite thrilling. The gig was an opportunity to launch their new album "A Purple Journey into the Mod Machine". Certainly a band to catch live, even if you think their style of music isn't your thing.

In support were Richard in Your Mind. I have seen them before and I really enjoy their strange blend of folk and prog rock. Each song is always a little off kilter, but it certainly keeps your ears occupied. I think in time they will hit their stride fully and are a band that I will keep an eye on.

First up were The Years. I can't tell you much about them, but this four piece band's blend of fairly straight forward rock was a pleasant way to start the evening. Whilst never rising to any great heights, they were pretty tight and provided able support for the night.