Armen Firman

Champers in hand, dressed in my favourite ‘indie chick’ get up, I ushered my friends to a spot up the back of the Evelyn where we could take up a comfortable residency with a good view of the entire venue. As my girls and I scanned the room, ever so elegantly sipping our cheap house champagne, we noted the talent in the room and compared notes on whom we would be approaching and after how many drinks.

But I digress…

Ever so slowly the pub began to fill as Slight if Build rang out their first note of a crowd warming set. Musically, I thoughtSlight of Build were pretty talented and show a lot of promise as a Melbourne band to watch out for in the coming years. Still scanning the room, my girlfriends had hardly noticed that the background music was actually a band on stage, so a little more crowd interaction and band introduction wouldn’t have gone astray.

With a quick change over of instruments and a bit of guitar tuning, My Empires struck out an attention-grabbing riff to turn our focus back to the stage. This good-looking band was hard not to watch from the first song to the last. My Empires have reached a comfortable level of music in their blending of pop and shoegaze genres, claiming influences like the Cure, U2, Ride and The Boo Radleys, they were certainly channelling them at the Evelyn on Saturday night.

By the time Armen Firman reached the stage the room had swollen with people eager for the treat of the night. Armen Firmanmore than lived up to the crowd’s expectations, with a gentle mix of older and some brand new music. Armen Firman’seclectic mix of Experimental Indie Rock is attributed to Tommy and Sammy Whitty (Vox and Guitars), Rob Rambaldi (Keys), Matt Millar (Drums) and Jimmy Saunders (Vox and Bass).

Declaring that they had only recently written this song and only just performed it in sound check, Armen Firman rocked out with Common Man. This song was so vocally, melodically and instrumentally tight I found it hard to believe that the former was the case, which is a true testament to a band that will go the distance.

Of course Porch Dweller, the flavour of the evening, went absolutely off, all focus on the guys and the stage, the crowd just soaking up every note of the gentle indie rock ballad. This is the latest single for Armen Firman, and I’m tipping that this will secure their place on the map in the Indie Rock universe.

Constantly engaging with their audience, these guys were incredible entertainers and so alive on stage. Their appreciation of their audience is a all the more evident when the down to earth guys grab a drink with their crowd after their show and you would hardly believe they were the headline act for the night.

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