The recent winner of the WAMi for Best Indie Popfor her unique dark folk pop Felicity Groom took to the stage dressed in a vintage style red dress with the guitarist from her band the Black Black Smoke. In a comical contrast to her formal outfit, Felicity opened with a large hand saw. While her bandmate playing some nice mellow crunchy chords, she took a bow to it. Producing the most hauntingly enchanting tones. I stood in awe with the people around me listening, its truly amazing where some artists can pull sounds from.

Quickly switching to her acoustic she revealed her deep voice. It sits nicely against the crunchy backing guitar, that reminds me strongly of the crunchy leads from the Cold War Kids. Her progressive dark folk continued with songs from her EP Treasures, including ‘a little song about Western Australia’

Felicity finished her set by filling the room with her strong vocals in Flyboy Stay. Taking the mic in her hands Felicity danced around, while her band mate played acoustic. The song reminds me so much of the 1940s era it talks about, and the performance was so reminiscent of the culture back then.

Melbourne four-piece Oh Mercy were up next. Opening with In My Stride off their current EP In The Nude For Love. It wasn’t long until one of Thomas Savages electric guitars appeared to die mid song. It was a real shame, because the last time I heard that woodgrain hollow-body it had the best tone.

The upbeat indie pop continued with nice harmonies and a catchy solo in Hurricane. The band had an unashamedly retro attire which carried on with the theme of the night. Lead vocalist Alexander Gow’s original pop voice carried through in Mannerism, held up by the strong drumming from Rohan Sforcina.

After a grueling half hour wait, Little Birdy finally took to the stage t a ridiculous amount of screaming and barbershop music in the background. Opening with Brother, Little Birdy were everything I expected and more, and judging by the crowds’ reactions during the night I was not alone. Before she had even reached the first chorus someone had already professed their love for lead singer Katy Steele. With the crowd singing behind her, Katy’s distinctly unique voice cut through with a poignant emotional strength.

Pulling out her somewhat iconic stickered tele for Baby Blue, one of their best early songs. Katy really knows how to work a crowd, bouncing around the stage playing right to us. There were times I thought she would almost fall off.

Ditching her tele for the acoustic again, Katy led us through Please Don’t Lay Me Down from their previous album Hollywood. They delved into a break that left Katy on the floor strumming madly.

Little Birdy were a little of the mark with their previous album it just didn’t have their sound, though there are many great songs. Confetti on the other hand, is destined to be a huge success as it just sounds like Little Birdy. The size and energy crowd at this gig is testament to that fact, as most appeared to have only recently discovered them.

Katy let us know that its been a ‘long time between gigs’ – too long. Before continuing with a retro styled classic Hairdo which she dedicated to ‘the ladies down the front’. I half wish she didn’t because they nearly made me deaf in one ear with their screaming.

Katy made my night next when she played Relapse, and the audience sung their little hearts outs. A band has truly made it when they can put on a gig and not sing, because the audience know their songs so well.

The set was decidedly more rock infused live, when compared the the album versions. The night continued with Better Off Alone, and Into My Arms. All up they have a nice retro Dusty Springfield feel, crossed with modern indie rock passion.

Taking a step back into the past the band left the stage leaving just Katy. She told us that this next song was ‘the first song she showed the guys before they became Little Birdy’. So she decided to play the aptly titled Beautiful solo with a sample track. During the song there were many cheers and shouts of ‘you’re beautiful Katy’.

Getting back into the full energy of the night the band returned to rock out Summerize. Once again Katy had the mosh going, and begging for more, which came in the form of a cover of the classic Split Enz song Six Months In A Leaky Boat. By the end of this sea chanty we were all swaying our arms, looking behind it looked like a moving ocean full of people.

The encore routine is becoming something of a tradition, and so long as you don’t think about it took much it’s not too lame. Of all the encore chants I’ve been in this was one of the least convincing, I was almost worried they wouldn’t come back even though they hadn’t used their confetti guns yet.

Thankfully they did come back out onto the stage with Into My Arms. After a big breakdown Katy stood in the center of the stage bathed in pure white light for the final song. Naturally it could be none other than Confetti. This very slow and progressive song built up to a big instrumental break, culminating in the explosion of confetti above the crowd. Without sounding lame it was actually a beautiful sight watching all this confetti just fall so gracefully on the audience after being fired from two air guns.

Overall this rates as the best gig I have ever been to, so if you get a chance to catch any of these bands live I suggest selling organs to get tickets.

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW HERE