On Saturday night, 303 hosted a charity gig for TLC For Kids, and a trio of fine Melbourne up-and-coming bands – Boom Pretty, The Breaks and Hercules in New York – took the stage to raise funds for the locally-based charity.
Based in Melbourne, TLC for kids provides sick children and young people all over Australia with urgent aid and attention and has benefited over 13,500 children and their families since 1998. The charity’s aim is to provide the quickest possible assistance through their service Rapid TLC.
First up on the bill was Boom Pretty, a local trio who’ve been hitting the small time live circuit for the past year. This three-piece mixed electronics into their rock base, along with some varying vocal styles to create a really fresh Muse-esque epic sound rarely found among local Melbourne acts. Unfortunately some sound issues meant that the drums were a little too loud throughout, but beyond this BP sounded great. Playing for close to an hour, both hard and soft tracks got their fair share. The manic electronics of the band’s single Sinless, and the massive vocal notes and effects of closer Ashes proved stand-outs. Also strong was the track “dedicated to the letter T” – for “tomatoes,” “tinnitus” and This Train – which again heard big notes front a slower base than Ashes.
The sound issues may have slightly lessened but were still there for The Breaks next up, and their blend of classic rock and roll and garage seemed a little drowned by volume. It was skinny leg jeans all round for this four-piece as they rammed out a succession of heavy tracks and a handful of dancey numbers. This saw an excitable few dancers emerge, who even at one point formed a cabaret style line of kickers for one of the group’s “slower” tracks. Either amusingly or annoyingly, the band had to get a girl up on stage to weigh down their kick drum so it wouldn’t creep forward as the angriest looking drummer going around pummelled along. Concluding with the all too clichéd ‘fall to the floor and kick around with your guitar’, The Breaks proved a loud, yet occasionally danceable, rocking mess.
Headlining the event were Hercules In New York, whose easily lovable pop – that’s been getting some airplay recently on Triple J – seemed both weird and cool at the same time. Hardly the rock star image, sipping a coffee whilst preparing seemed in order for one of the lads, before the quirky, melodramatic electronics kicked in. Their songs often blended into one another effortlessly, with transitions between electronic and acoustic guitar well situated.
Nightlight and the super-pop of Long Time Coming were standouts. HINY suited both types of patrons at the event – their sound chilled enough for those sitting in couches to simply listen and enjoy, but still having enough energy to dance to, which a handful made sure they did. Moreover, HINY’s setup was far from the norm, with a tiny keyboard and synth/effects toward the back of stage, and guitar and bass at front – no sign of drums and no need. It’s refreshing to see a band break from the norm and do something different with the entire set-up and sound.
The night was a great opportunity for punters to check out a trio of great emerging acts and help out a fantastic cause at the same time. Raising several hundred dollars by its conclusion, the night was a success and the quality of music only acted to boost such achievement.
Photos courtesy of Anthony Smith.
