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Locals Hunnicut open the night with some slick sounds of the electro-synth pop variety. Keyboards compliment the gutsy and gorgeous feminine vocals of their frontwoman. The crowd seems disinterested, but it's not because they sound bad. Hunnicut just aren't particularly active on stage. They have a slick sound, they just need some slick moves. Ranging in influence from Tori Amos to the Mavis's, Hunnicut have all the makings of a great outfit, but they lack the physical expression of their music.
Oblivia engage in some interesting pop rock that, at times, appears to just miss the target. Perhaps they're having an off night after a long tour with Lo-tel and Pretty Violet Stain. Front man Josh Orange, ranges from complete shoegazing to overly dramatic bodily distortions, but manages to maintain a solid vocal performance. They play a consistent set and include their only familiar radio tune "My Friend" early in the show.
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When Pretty Violet Stain take to the stage, it's obvious that their
following is growing bigger each time they play, and the crowd come in close
to enjoy a set full of the usual tunes along with some new ones. Displaying
a fine effort on vocals tonight, Shane Nicholson's songwriting style is
simple, catchy, and completely comfortable.
With a reputation for good, solid live shows, Pretty Violet Stain show us pop-rock at it's best. There is nothing flashy or flamboyant about their style, and playing live is like second nature to them now. And rightly so, with the amount of touring they've done over the past year with high profile acts such as Alex Lloyd and rock specialists, Shihad. |
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Once again, a relatively small crowd stick around for Sydney band Lo-tel,
and once again they put in a show worthy of praise. Not afraid to engage in
a bit of justified rock posing, Luke Hanigan (vocals/guitar) is spot on with
his singing, giving Lo-tel's glorious glam-pop-rock that extra bit of whiz
bang.
Hit me over the head and explain it to me one more time. Why would people pay good money to see a band, only to hurl abuse at them and tell them that they suck?! Not only is it rude and obnoxious, in this case it is completely unwarranted. They're not asking for much, just a bit of applause between songs and the occasional get-up-and-boogie that isn't coaxed by the promise of free merchandise. I don't understand how an audience could be so unresponsive to music like this. It's not hard to listen to, it's not challenging, it's not boring and it most definitely does not suck! Yes, they play pop music that is of a radio friendly nature, and yes, they have had a few songs that have been flogged to death by commercial radio, but does that mean they are a bad band?
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It's not like Lo-tel have a case of shoegazing, self-indulgent, rock
wanna-be syndrome. Lo-tel are good @ what they do and are interesting to
watch. Showing that there is more to playing pop music than looking good
and dancing about on stage, "Disconnected" is proof that Lo-tel are also
more than capable of slower tunes.
One thing that is sure to bring a smile to the face of anyone who grew up in the 80's, is the cover of "Just what I Needed" by the Cars, a song that Lo-tel "butcher on a regular basis". And with the obligatory inclusion of "Teenager of the Year", Lo-tel close the set and deny the few audience members that were actually into their set, the opportunity for an encore. |
