The sound at Transit Bar on Saturda night was horrendous. When the mic’s were actually working, the feedback was nigh on unbearable. I shall say no more on the subject.
The bands didn’t start until well on into the night, and by then the place was as packed as I’ve ever seen it, to the point that playing pool was reduced to a continuous series of “excuse me mate, can I just get you to move so I can take a shot”
Despite the aforementioned hiccups, Wollongonians Free Agent Crew got the house jumping to their eclectic melding of musical genres. RHCP’s One Hot Minute styled funk with Elton John circa Yellow Brick Road piano sensibilities, 70’s guitar rock with a hint of Tom Morello plus Slash inspired solos, TZU-ish vocal stylings, add that with solid drums and tight scratching on the decks, and FAC are something to behold. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was listening to, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
They sure are some confident kids. So much so that two songs into their set, the guitarist was performing the solo with the guitar behind his head. If he wasn’t joking around with the crowd so much, you’d think he was a tool, but the whole band was having a bit of fun, and the enthusiastic crowd responded accordingly. They even managed to get the majority of those in attendance to echo back “make money money” throughout the chorus in one particular song. These guys are sure to be a hit when they return once again to support Muph and Plutonic at Transit in the coming weeks.
When Casual Projects finally began to play the first of their two-part set, the time piece was approaching midnight. However, the audience’s inhibitions were well lubricated, and crowd participation was easy to muster. Transit’s small stage seemed especially crowded for the Canberran eight-piece, who quite frankly, proved (on more than one occasion) that four vocalists are at least one too many.
Despite the two solid sets of rock spiced with dashes of horns and lashings of hip-hop vocals, the highlight of the night was when they took it down a notch and slipped into a bizarrely chosen, but incredibly well received cover of Seal’s Kiss From a Rose. When the sing-along was over, the boys slipped back into the musical stylings that they are more commonly known for. Between those who bounced along to each and every song, and those who threw their hands in the air because they just didn’t care, both bands were incredibly well received and pretty much everyone, bar the dude who while getting thrown out had to ask security if he could pull his pants up from around his ankles, left happy.
