Live Review: Georgia Fair - The Standard

A solid early evening crowd welcomed a bare-footed Jack Carty to the stage for the first set of the night. His soothing acoustic guitar, honeyed vocals and playful harmonica warmed up the crowd perfectly for Melbourne five-piece, Dirt Farmer. After a soundcheck that felt like it took an eternity, the band finally got into their groove, pumping out some chirpy country rock sounds with a hint of pop. The addition of a harmonica really lifted the sometimes messy, guitar-heavy sound as they rattled through tracks including Real Young and Johnny Marble.

Newport duo Georgia Fair took to the stage to huge applause and the pair's simple, clean sound was a refreshing change from the previous set, with the addition of a bass player and drummer rounding off the chilled-out sound. Opener, Times Fly, melded seamlessly into a cover of Bruce Springsteen's I'm On Fire, which suited their style down to a tee. Singer Jordan Wilson was captivating to watch, throwing himself into every song with great vigour and belting out tracks accompanied by erratic head movements and flailing arms. The beautifully executed vocal harmonies on new single, Blind, brought out goose bumps, as did the serene track, The River, where Ben Riley swapped his guitar for a clarinet, an instrument you don't see too much of in bands these days.

Crowd pleaser, Simple Man, and covers of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game and Queens Of The Stone Age's Make It Wit Chu finished the set with Dirt Farmer rejoining the stage for a karaoke-style singalong for the finale that got the crowd dancing and singing their hearts out. Great finish.