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“Thanks for coming out on a Wednesday…” Ash Gale, lead singer of The Sundance Kids, said to his audience at ANU Bar, very sincerely, “I know it’s a big deal… thanks for making the effort!”. In reality, it was the crowd who should be thanking them, because The Sundance Kids are a rare find- lovely boys who make very lovely music.

First up on the night was Margaret Helen King, a rock on which the Canberra music scene is based and who were, as usual, great support. MHK consistently play enjoyable sets, and Wednesday was no different. Amanda, Nat and Simon performed songs from their large repertoire of melodic indie tracks, wooing the audience with their chilled out vocals and snappy lyrics. They are a perfect representative of the Canberra scene, and a strong start to the evening.

Next was The Ivys (formerly known as Irksome Bliss), a Sydney based band who are indie rock with a bit more of a dance edge, showcased on tracks like Give It Up. They had a great energy and good sense of humour- one of the highlights of their set was when they sang happy birthday to a member of the crowd. “That’s the best we can do, sorry”, apologised Luke Hannaford, “We’re not much good at anything unless we practice!”. The Ivys have just put out an EP, Inside Out, and will be touring round the country with the Sundance Kids, so go check them out, especially if it’s your birthday – apparently they could use some more practice singing that one!

It’s true that in Canberra, Wednesday is not normally a night for going out to the city, and most of those who did were hardcore Sundance Kids fans (yes, including me). They’ve been around for a while now, drummer Suresh Meyer says “We don’t want to be one of those bands that fade away…” and if they continue to put on shows like Wednesday’s, they won’t. Ash Gale has a glorious voice, a very cheeky smile and with the support of the boys, puts on a passionate performance. Early on in the gig they played an old track, Solutions, and Gale passed the mic to the crowd so they could sing, seeming a bit surprised at how well they knew the words “Good singing, you guys nailed it!”. Their show also included a handful of brand new songs, and as his was the first proper show of the tour, they were testing them out for reactions “Tell us if it’s a keeper or not…”. There wasn’t really a down point, the band went from one quality song to the next, with plenty of friendly banter in between.

After playing their final song, new single Drive Away, The Sundance Kids hung around saying they wanted to meet each and every person, signed posters, t-shirts, tickets, whatever. Their first full album Fall Into Place has been out a while, after the band was recently signed to Warner Music. “It’s sold over 200 copies!” Gale laughed, and gosh it’s good. Tracks like Starting Today and Burn So Bright stand out, although the whole album is full of uplifting songs with cleverly structured lyrics – a pleasure to listen to. If you missed them this time, the Sundance Kids will be back – “Every time we play here it’s good, really good…we love you a lot, Canberra!”. The audience at the ANU Bar proved it’s not unrequited – Canberra loves The Sundance Kids, too.

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