Supported by Melbourne two-piece Kid Sam and folk band The Maple Trail, the Firekites attempted to turn Friday at Oxford Art into a lo-fi indie-folk extravaganza. Although the idea may have been better suited to a venue more forgiving to the genre, they were largely successful.

The night started with Blue Mountains five-piece The Maple Trail. While solid, they failed to really make an impression on the early crowd. They certainly had their work cut out for them at nine pm on a Friday night, when what most punters are looking for to kick off their evenings doesn’t involve a lot of trumpet and piano accordion. That being said, it was only their surroundings that hurt them and I could certainly see myself enjoying The Maple Trail experience perhaps a little later in the night in a smaller room.

Kid Sam was next and I’m afraid to say, they completely stole the show. Where The Maple Trail had been unable to assert themselves, vocalist/guitar-hero Kieran Ryan had us eating out of his hands. Kieran seems to know instinctively when it’s time to rip out a gritty, pulse-bubbling solo or when to pull back and let the crowd feast on drummer Kishore Ryan’s (they’re cousins) excellent repertoire of effects. The two boys, one standing up front jerking like an epileptic turkey, the other tucked in safely behind his kit, had the kind of stage presence that cannot be faked. I haven’t yet picked up a copy of their self-titled debut LP, but you can rest assured it’s very, very high on my to-do list.

After a suitable interval, Firekites came on to a fairly enthusiastic crowd, ready to get their last taste of The Bowery in full. Whether or not they left as enthusiastically might be up for some debate. I last saw The Firekites at Laneway and in that more chilled-out atmosphere they thrived. This time out, however, there seemed to be something not quite there.

Ultimately it was a case of the band not really raising their performance to the level needed for the kind of night it was. We had all come prepared to be dazzled by a group of considerable artistic merit, but by halfway through the set we’d realised that what we were going to get instead was a fairly routine exercise.

I am, however, being a touch unfair. There wasn’t anything that I could define as wrong about their performance. Songs like Paris still had the desired effect. During that particular number I felt myself, if only momentarily, being gently rocked into the right kind of mood. The problem was I couldn’t stay in that place for any significant period of time. It was the result of a series of little irritating problems. The band had set up fairy lights at the back of the stage and the result was that for the most part they were covered in darkness.

Sound was, at times, an issue as well – particularly from Pegs Adams’ microphone. The effect of a song was not fully felt on a couple of occasions because we couldn’t hear her. This being said, Firekites are still one of the nicer indie bands doing the rounds at the moment and it’s always good to see a band that clearly enjoy playing live. I’ll definitely be looking out for the second LP – just not as much as I will be for Kid Sam’s next Sydney show.