Live Review: Snakadaktal, Fishing, The Flower Drums

An unusual venue choice for the musical stylings of Snakadaktal, Friday night's set from the band's new album tour proved interesting. Barefooted Perth locals The Flower Drums were up first, and their brand of dreamy pop was similar to that of the headlining act. The four-piece band used experimental techniques to create new and alternative sounds, one instance being the odd-looking but effective wagging of the microphone side to side to create a kind of rippled vocal effect. Their set finished off with an air of atmosphere, and it was only right at the end that the audience decided to dance along; none moreso than the photographer up the front.

Sydney's Fishing were up next, and it was clear they were in their element. Capitol was the perfect venue for the duo, as their heavy bass and beat-driven, almost exclusively instrumental melodies filled the room easily. Hard to describe is an understatement; their beats were almost trip-hoppy electronica, with a tropical, ocean influence. Working together with such clarity, they were oddly engaging despite looking almost exclusively away from the audience and speaking very little. Moving seamlessly from one song to the next, the digital element of their set was fascinating; much like watching Gotye live, there is just too much going on to fully comprehend how they're actually making the music. Ending on a cover sounding suspiciously like TLC's Waterfalls (though hard to tell through all the distortion) these guys were the highlight of the night.

Taking to the stage pretty early for a Friday night headlining gig, Melbourne five-piece Snakadaktal played a good mix of old and new songs. Hottest 100 ranking track, Air, had the audience singing along, a good reminder of why Australia fell in love with this band. Very reminiscent of Iceland's Of Monsters & Men, the title track from the new album, Sleep In The Water proved just the right mix of driving drum beats and slow ambience that these guys do so well. Arguably the band's most well-known song, Dance Bear, had the audience singing along again, though the slow, atmospheric tunes in between were drowned out by the loud, swelling and increasingly inebriated crowd. Unfortunately the venue choice was not ideal for their more ambient numbers, and despite the fact that their performance was impressive, this counts for little when the band is hardly heard over the raucous crowd.