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For the past year or so, Bar 32 has been holding it’s Saturday night love-in Shakedown, but as good as it is, they’ve decided to throw in an entrée in the form of the aptly named Shakeup which has some live bands (as opposed to non-live ones) playing prior to the sweaty club night that follows.

Last Saturday, Melbourne bands Sierra Fin and Plastic Palace Alice took the Hume up to Canberra and joined seasoned locals Hancock Basement for the night.

Hancock started the night off just after 8 pm with their upbeat indie rock fare. Having won Triple J’s Unearthed late last year, it’s good to know that the hard work is paying off somewhat with airplay, however it’s still frustrating to see these guys still loitering around the Canberra support scene, given that the four-piece has the tunes and stagecraft to carry off a larger role. Nevertheless, this is no place to be bitter. The boys did their usual good work and proceeded to the bar. Why the hell not? It’s only two metres from the stage.

The somewhat quiet and, uh, interesting, Plastic Palace Alice followed up, and brought the tempo down somewhat with their softer, folkier tunes. To be honest, I was paying more attention to the guitarist’s bright underwear on the outside of his black leggings, than the music. That’s a lie, but it was distracting.

Sierra Fin were up next, and managed to combine the previous sounds of the supports and add a dash of darker pub rock which worked well. To be honest (again), I spent the majority of this set getting my pre-DJ set massage and/or meeting up with people outside prior to Shakedown, BUT towards the end of the set I was inside and saw such delights as the lead singer unplugging his guitar, venturing deep into the audience and continuing the middle of the song a cappella, eventually goading the audience to join him in the refrain.

All in all, it was a decent leadup to Shakedown, and the quality of the production (ie. lights and sound, for all you music purist types) is well above any other venue of the size in Canberra, thanks to Gary, ex-Greenroom, running the show.

I would go into a review of Shakedown at this point, but I’m afraid I’d be – œpwned’ by the – œl33t’ types in the forums for reviewing a club night. Those guys are intimidating.