Call the Office was bursting at the seams Thursday night as three groups offered up soul-infused rock ’n’ roll to a sweaty, energetic crowd.

Hamilton five-piece band the Arkells headlined and brought along fellow Steeltown rockers Young Rival and Toronto’s Sweet Thing for a night that was nothing short of epic.

The show was a huge success — tickets were sold out, much to the dismay of many Arkells fans who lined up at the Call the Office doors anyway.

Sweet Thing kicked off the evening. They brought a unique mixture of songs that had everything from soul, punk and hard rock to blues and a touch of ska.

Sweet Thing’s frontman was extremely entertaining and mimicked the style of a classic R&B singer. He danced like Smokey Robinson and turned his microphone stand upside down like Rod Stewart — the set was fun to watch, to say the least. The band’s only shortcoming was their lack of on-stage banter, which was the sole indication of their relative inexperience.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? The Arkells sure know how to get an audience amped up – crowd members moshed and got on stage with the band at the end of the night. (Corey Stanford/Gazette)

Next on stage was Young Rival. These guys are no strangers to London, as they have passed through numerous times with a handful of other bands. Lead singer Aron D’Alesio fronts the garage-rock revival band that has a touch of psychobilly as well. The band’s riffs are familiar and their overall sound is accessible to a wide audience.

Young Rival’s set was short but sweet, and D’Alesio effectively communicated with the crowd. Before playing their popular track, “Your Island,” he joked, “Our music video for this next song played on MuchMusic. Do they even play videos on Much anymore?”

The Arkells finished the night with a bang. The audience had hyped themselves up for the performance while they waited for the band to take the stage, which finally happened around midnight.

The band set the tone for the rest of their set with a fast-paced and impassioned performance of “Heart of the City” and followed up with “The Ballad of Huge Chavez,” which was clearly a crowd favourite.

“Is everybody okay?” Arkells frontman Max Kerman asked the crowd early into their set. “We need to make sure we’re looking out for each other out there so everybody can have a good time.” This was a good piece of advice, seeing as people had already begun to crowd surf.

After slowing the pace with a slower song — really the only one of the night — the crowd once again went crazy when they recognized the noticeable rapid-fire drumming and guitar riff from “Oh, The Boss is Coming.”

Not surprisingly, the crowd demanded an encore from the Arkells. They played a cover of The Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” followed by a rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark.” This prompted the opening bands and several crowd members to join the Arkells on stage to cap off the night.

It was the perfect ending to a night of bluesy alternative rock — it was also a great way to relieve stress before the inevitable exam season.