Live Review: The Community Chest, The Ghost Hotel, Flower Drums, Braves, Ten Bit Band

Ten Bit Band kicked off the proceedings with catchy vocal driven melancholic indie pop, that had a well defined balance of dreamy guitars, electronic loops and melodic keys and set the night off at just the right pace.  Picking up the tempo and adding a dash of grittiness to the mix the Braves pulled together a mixture dreamy alternative rock, full of guitar riff based songs and sensual vocals over lazy distorted textures. There was plenty of banter between tracks and they finished with a song about zombies that was rich with atmospheric guitars and received a welcome response from the audience. Continuing with the dreamy sound-scape theme prevalent with the opening acts, The Flower Drums began an aural journey reminiscent of '90s shoe-gaze and performed a deeply reverberant and almost completely instrumental set. Captivating and stick-wielding frontman Leigh Craft, thrashed around centre stage, theatrically beating the lone tom drum to the rhythm of the immersing tracks. With a new album currently in production it is likely this exploratory group will be pounding the stage again soon and should not be missed.

Last support act Ghost Hotel took the listeners into the realms of full throttled, bluesy Aussie rock, amping up the now bustling venue and earning themselves massive cheers between songs. Playing an assortment of tracks from their 2012 Maiden Hill, the purely catchy nature of this five piece wouldn't seem out of place in any outback town pub. Though they have supported numerous iconic Aussie bands (Cold Chisel, You Am I, Crowded House), these alt-rockers seemed just as comfortable on the small stage. Finishing with their album's opening track Hand That Bleeds, with driving drum rolls, heaving grizzly bass and harmonious guitars, the lads captured everyone's attention and took no prisoners. 

Community Chest are the brainchild of Adem K, former front man of the Turnstyles. Tonight they launched their new full length release Top Of The Hour, this colourful five piece band proceeding to perform the album in its entirety; seamlessly oozing quirky melodic bliss throughout. The audience couldn't help themselves from dancing along to the catchy songs, with tracks like Wave Rock and Cyclops Extreme early in the set, showing off their fuzzy upbeat indie side. Rhythm guitarist Dee K sang response vocals to Adem's lead as well as solo on several other songs, adding a sweet dynamic to the bands already vibrant mixture of whirly synths and slow bass grooves. A sparkling and optimistic vibe was present on stage at all times, this band's retro look and uniqueness set them apart from the rest of the earlier acts. Dreamy disco ball lighting supplied a tender setting for the delicate tones Anti-Lullaby and with a upbeat ending number about an old VW and plenty of approving cheers from the crowd, the show all too soon came to a finish.