This was the first gig I've gone to review in a while, and to be honest, was fearing that I'd be a bit out of touch, but seeing some regulars appear for this night of rock at Club Envy, courtesy of MIA Entertainment put me at ease.

First band up on a drizzly night of rock at Club Envy showed four teens playing flat out rock, but sneaking in some metal touches. Lestrange are a tight band to warm the crowd up, and ended on a synchronized jump that would make van halen proud.

After some confusion about the line-up and some changes, Stryder were next up. Displaying the tightest damn pants I've seen in the Sunshine Coast music scene in quite some time, these guy came out with hair flowing and a clear Wolfmother, Led Zeppelin, 70's hard rock influence. Another young band proving their worth. Not sure about the leopard print pants, but the psychedelia-fused hard rock admittedly was pretty cool.

This was to be my first experience of Gold Coast instrumental progressive metal trio, The Cilikis Progressio Project. The best way to describe these guys would be to say they are Halenesque. No vocals, just guitar/drum/bass technical proficiency. Busting out hard rock/metal licks then changing atmosphere to 70s porn funk. A highlight would be watching Sir Shreddington of guitar himself, Rob Stanley getting his groove on during the set.

Last up, in a deserved headling slot, was Locavore. It was finally great to see this band play on the Sunshine Coast. Though a local band, this was their first Coast show, and judging from their performance tonight, the start of many more to come. It's refreshing to have this style of progressive alternative rock appearing again on the coast. The dynamics between guitarists Jethro and Dan added interesting textures to the sound. Bassist Victoria's work had a slight sniff of Tool's Justin chancellor to her sound. Solid, chunky drumming from Ross that wasn't over the top like in some other prog bands, but still there to add a different dimension to the sound. Singer BJ is such an energetic frontman. Considering he's only been singing for a few months, he does an awesome job. Given time I believe he will be capable of busting out some soaring notes, which was the only part I found missing from Locavore's sound.

My advice is to go see these guys now, then check them out again in a few months and note their progression. Odds are these guys will have a huge following.

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