Live Review: Noire, The Atlas Room

The fact that Shebeen donates all the profit from each beer they sell to the developing world, makes the place kind of cool, not to mention the little African inspired venue is tucked away in off the packed city streets, giving us a little hiatus to eat some of their great curry, and support some live bands.

The Atlas Room started off on the dot. His set was a mix of different sound landscapes, accompanied by a projection of visuals, which covered the entire stage. Not long after was Gina Rose Bruce. Bruce switched up her style since last time we saw her perform, swapping the acoustic for an electric and acquired a band. Bruce's higher and softer vocals naturally grew grungier, and she really pulled it off too. These two together were a good combo to wind us up for the darker shade of dream pop that is Noire.  

One man down, Noire graced the stage with only Billy James on lead guitar and front woman Jessica Mincher. Both in black, the dynamic duo filled the room with the exact vibe we were all asking for. Mincher was hugging the mic and her vocals were drowned in reverb, but you could still hear her talent underneath. James ripped out some technical riffs,with both travelling through the first few songs in perfect harmony with each other. With what resembled different Australian landscapes, for their entire set they too had projections of big open red plains, a bay of some sort, with the swell of waves coming in and out, and a girl dancing in a sheer dress. The simple imagery suited the dream/pop/indie couple.

Then they ripped into Those Days, which has had a bit of play on Triple J's Unearthed. Knowing this song, and listening to it many times, the lyrics "I woke up with you on my mind, and then I really woke up" only made sense once we were being sung to by Mincher, as she has captivating, story telling powers with her performance. Then they pulled out Chris Isaak's Wicked Game, which was a great song choice for the band as the female vocals gave it a dynamic shift. A few songs later, they played their recent hit Baby Blue. This was, as expected, super tight and resonated with the audience.

The Shebeen band room acted like a little cave of moody sound landscapes, and some incredibly talented female leads.