The Underground Stage
“Moreton are on their first headline tour tonight, after causing a rideable swell of excitement with their entrance into the world earlier in the year. The tracks that are out in the wild – including “The Water”, “Johana”, and “Specimen” – all get shaken out tonight, and the reception here feels (presumably) as impressed as […]
“Hunch are no strangers round here, and are well and truly in the groove now of running a show; tonight, they treat us to the continuing evolution of a band growing ever-bigger teeth. With more Ian Dury-ish spoken word amid the grunge, there’s a ton of balance in the set now, but it’s still the […]
“Richard Cuthbert has been around the block, and tonight he’s here with his three-piece band who, as per the Courtney Barnett Act 2015 that governs the naming of three-pieces, are now nicknamed the RC3. Stepping in at the last-minute to cover for Neighbours, we get treated to one of the most charming and lovely sets […]
“By the time the latest six-piece incarnation of long-time faves Velociraptor take the stage, the party is off to the races. We can’t know that in less than 24 hours, Donald Trump will become the President-Elect of the US, but there’s a distinct feeling of the last party before the Apocalypse in the air. If […]
“Australia are one of those bands I’ve been meaning to catch for a while, and happily they’re easily as good as I’d figured. It’s danceable but laced with a sense of doom, guitars that want to be disco but can’t help but feeling a bit miserable about it. Maybe it’s the baritone vocal. Either way, […]
“Barefoot Alley are Brisbane-brother-and-sister but there’s very little sunshine here. Whatever shack this two-piece live in, it has a hole in the roof, the landlord’s coming for the rent, and the rats have eaten all the food. This is dirty stuff, bluesy White-Stripes-y eeeeooaargh, thumping and distorted into weird shapes. They sound like they’re having […]
“The Pretty Littles are the sort of band that can cover “Chop Suey” and reference Bush (“they used to be kind of a big deal”), and not only get away with it, but smash the living heckers out of it musically and make us all laugh like idiots. It’s pure good times tonight – despite […]
“Neighbourhood Youth make massive sound. This is song as architecture, towering and looming and as big as the damn sky. Recent-ish release “Atlantic” was well-regarded in most quarters and is suitably gigantic tonight, but the whole set is full of technical skill and enormo-sound. It’s like watching a jumbo jet take off – the last […]
“The Brighton Up Bar has a habit of lighting up joss sticks during gigs, and while I usually recoil a bit at it, it perfectly suits Sun Sap’s smoky West Coast garage groove. It’s my second time catching this six-piece – crammed onto the Brighton’s stage like a pair of meggings – and it’s a […]