A balmy Melbourne night was the perfect night for some warm vintage-inspired tunes. There was a certain electricity in the air as the crowd made its way casually into The Hi-Fi Bar. While it was understated it was there and only grew as the night went on. Perth up and comers Split Seconds warmed things up and impressed those that made it to the venue early. Their modest acoustic-driven rock stylings seemed to be an odd fit as an opener for Oh Mercy at some points, however hard-hitting jams like Top Floor and Amanda got the crowd going. In between sets the crowd grew and managed to form a circle on the surrounding floor area, as if it was a school assembly. Continuing the interstate affair, fast rising Brisbane garage rock outfit Millions did their best to get punters up and moving, which is exactly what they did. Despite some slightly awkward banter the band carried themselves like rock stars as they steamrolled through their already impressive catalogue. For those familiar with Millions it was refreshing to hear them emphasise the funkiness of tunes like Those Girls in a live setting. Closing things out with crowd pleaser Nineteen and their energetic cover of The Ronettes’ Be My Baby, anticipation built yet remained somewhat understated. That changed as soon as hometown heroes Oh Mercy hit the stage, performing the seductively groovy Deep Heat. Devoted fans sung along to the chorus as uniquely charismatic front-man Alexander Gow fed off the energy of his bandmates and the now-packed crowd. Keeping the banter short and sweet they worked their way through the cuts from their stellar Deep Heat album, with the title track and songs such as Fever bolstered by live flute and saxophone. Few bands can manage to be so effortlessly cool yet somewhat daggy as Oh Mercy, with Gow swaggering around the stage in a gold jacket emblazoned with their album title on the back. At points they managed to sound like the successors to the Roxy Music throne with stomping rock anthems like Suffocated and My Man, while still sounding like a modern rock band. Maintaining a similar mid-tempo energy throughout much of their set a certain lull crept in around the halfway mark. They managed to counterbalance this effect by switching things up with cuts such as the reggae-tined Making Me Pay. Forgoing the traditional encore performance, Oh Mercy chose to close the show out with a joint performance alongside fellow bands Millions and Split Seconds, in a great sign of camaraderie and musical harmony.
BY ANDREW ‘HAZARD’ HICKEY
LOVED: The enthusiasm of the bands.
HATED: Switching between wearing a jacket and not wearing it.
DRANK: Coopers (don’t judge me).
