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The Beautiful Girls have a massive ground swell of support in Adelaide, which is no surprise they’re playing at Thebarton Theatre. With plenty of choices of where to go on a Saturday night across town this show was a popular choice with a diverse triple bill offering something for everyone, if not a little more.

Getting things underway was the soul hip-hop duo Vida Sunshyne & Chasm. Whilst not my cup of tea they played with the right spirit in getting this party started. There were some pockets of the crowd that were in to them but by in large the majority of the crowd was lukewarm to them as punters were streaming in during their set.

The real highlight for me was seeing Washington play for the first time. Already, plenty of positive accolades and hype has been generated. What Washington has is some great tunes that are infectious, catchy and upbeat. There is no doubt that she had won over plenty of new fans who will be eager in anticipation for the album to be released at the end of the month.

Whilst not being particular familiar with her back catalogue there were plenty of stand outs including 1997, recent single Rich Kids and the upbeat and very catchy Cement. Who could forget crowd favourite Clementine – wow! There wasn’t a huge amount of banter with the crowd letting her songs do all the talking but being clever enough to plug her upcoming headline tour in August through September. If no one has heard of Washington by now I guarantee you’ll be hearing plenty of her over the coming months.

The band everyone was waiting for took to the stage just after ten to a roaring reception. As preparation for this show it probably would have helped if I had picked up a copy of their latest album Spooks because that did seem to dominate proceedings, even prompting a gentle reminder from lead man Mat McHugh to go out and get a copy.

It is interesting to hear how The Beautiful Girls sound has morphed in to deep reggae dub vibe proving to be very popular seeing Spooks achieve their highest ARIA chart position to date. Early favourites in their set included 10:10 and My Mind Is An Echo Chamber. It didn’t take long for the hits to come out with Music and Le Mar receiving a big response from the crowd. The old and new seemed to hang together well in their set.

Like any other gig it is frustrating to see people who have paid good money to come to the show to be disengaged and disruptive to those wanting to get in to it and just enjoy the show. I didn’t know there were so many bad bladders or people who were constantly thirsty or people who felt the need to talk at the top of the voice about the trials and tribulations of their pathetic lives.

With that aside I really needed to refocus on what’s to come with Rockers! (Downtown Upstyling) featuring a cheeky in-song cover of Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight. There were plenty of big hits to come with I Thought About You and In Love as the night was drawing to a close.

An excitable crowd got the lads back for an encore playing Freedom and Periscopes, which topped off a solid night. Next stop – the after party at Saracen’s Head!

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