Contemplating the meaninglessness of existence on any given Sunday afternoon, one can do well to decide that meaning can be created in the form of small experiences and pleasures like patting a fluffy dog or soaking up rays and sweet tunes at a rooftop gig.
Aussie independent record label Bedroom Suck presented Melbournians with an afternoon of local musical delights, hosted at the rooftop bar of The Evelyn. There was an absence of fluffy dogs to pat, but that was easy to forget in the midst of a crowd of chillers content to lap up the cruisy weekend vibes.
Four piece garage rockers Bitch Diesel opened the afternoon’s entertainment colourfully, adorned in festive attire – especially noteable were the pink sequin flares. From a critical perspective, Bitch Diesel were pretty rough around the edges and not the most musically polished, but that wasn’t really the point. They came equipped with a good sense of humour that helped transform the concert space into a mate’s backyard, and that is precisely what you want on a Sunday afternoon.
The side project of Deaf Wish guitarist Sarah Hardiman, Moon Rituals took to the stage next with moody female vocals to the backing of a Korg keyboard. In terms of soundscape, Moon Rituals were the odd one out of the afternoon, a touch more introspective than the rest of the musical offering. Their performance benefitted from adding two more vocalists to the mix mid-way through, resulting in some lovely harmonies and stellar backup dancing.
Deaf Wish injected some life into the crowd with their noisy post-punk tunes, presenting a wall of sound and plenty of opportunity for head-banging. They were tight, heavy, fun, and really hard to criticise.
Capping off the afternoon was Scott & Charlene’s Wedding (SACW) with their own blend of simple, catchy riffs and relatable lyrics. All of the band members know their way around their instrument of choice, and the drummer was the happiest chap you’ve ever seen, but it is hard to look past vocalist/guitarist Craig Dermody as the centrepiece of SACW. With his charismatic gaze and comforting chatter, Dermody proved his worth as a frontman.
Overall, the gig was a comfortable, low-key affair – the sort of gig you have at the house of that friend who happens to have a PA system. Contributing to this effect was the cross-band banter between Deaf Wish guitarist Jensen Tjhung and SACW’s Dermody about the origin of the track, Don’t Bother Me. This may have ended in a beer being poured over Dermody’s head as he tried to dance with Tjhung, but that’s okay, ’cause we were all friends on that rooftop.
By Sam Gaffney
Photo by Cassandra Kiely
Highlight: Dermody making a foray into the crowd with the SACW’s finale, a cover of Live It Up by Mental As Anything.
Lowlight: Leaving a bit more sunburnt than you arrived after forgetting to slip slop slap.
Crowd favourite: The little kid playing with the tennis ball all afternoon.
