Revenge of the Horns @ SwanHotel (22/08/09)

Thu 27th Aug, 2009 in Gig Reviews

While Augie March played just around the corner, the Swan Hotel had other plans for good old fashioned live music, with Next Big Thing 2009 bands reuniting for Revenge of the Horns. Check out Toxikon’s gallery for all the fun goodness

MC Damien Smith provided introductions and entertaining banter in between sets, inspired by MC Justin Walshe, Next Big Thing 09 presenter.

With a minor lineup change, John and the Inverarities were up first, belting out their happy-go-lucky jazz that warmed the Swan Hotel for the mayhem to come. The band were in fine form, especially drummer Serra Petale who was an absolute machine – almost outshining the brass players in the band.

Goodnight Tiger, composed of Perrin Date and Jill Chrisp, brought a more intimate feel to the venue with their acoustic set. Their vocals were in perfect harmony and tracks like Little Song and After Hours had a sweet, melancholic flavour. The duo attracted a punter who brought with him a crowd of stuffed toys, which he placed on the floor in front of them. It was adorable, yet also slightly bizarre. Not knowing what to say, both the band and the crowd simply joined in. If Playschool ever had a gig, this is what it would look like. With a set that felt just a little bit too long, Goodnight Tiger were the calm before the storm that was The Brow.

The Brow Horn Orchestra (The Brow) picked up the pace, opening with Jack Be Nimble and overflowing from the tiny stage as their set progressed. They were an orchestra all right, an orchestra of rhymes, rhythm and havoc wreaked. The Brow are truly an alphabet soup of talent that blend genres seamlessly and effortlessly. With a sound that resembles The Cat Empire, mixed with hip hop, ska and reggae, they lured in a large crowd that couldn’t help but dance. One punter even fell over from all the excitement (admittedly the floor was getting rather slippery from all the spilt alcohol), and gave a nice segue into Freefalling (pun completely intended).

The final band for the night were The Accumulated Gestures. Vocalist Donovan de Souza still looked rather smart sans the trademark orange suit. Less orange didn’t mean less quality, and the band lived up to the expectations of the punters impatient for the band to start. De Souza’s soulful vocals filled the venue and although the band were missing some brass action, they more than made up for it with their infectious funky tunes. A few slower songs with a hint of nostalgic romance prompted some waltzing; one guy even used his own hoodie as a dance partner.

The band were only a couple of songs in when a power outage disrupted the set and led the drummer to keep the crowd going. Members of The Brow joined in to dance and encouraged the crowd, which led to mass dancing in front of the stage. Eventually the power returned, and The Accumulated Gestures were able to continue the rest of their set.

Revenge of the Horns was an absolute riot and one can only hope there’s plenty more where that came from.
Check out Toxikon’s gallery for all the fun goodness