The Vines, Papa vs Pretty, TheBleeding Knees Club, Dune Rats@ The Hi-Fi (26/08/11)

Tue 30th Aug, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Despite the lack of audience, local support band for the evening Dune Rats managed to efficiently fill The Hi-Fi with the ringing of their surf oriented rock. The Brisbane duo – consisting of Danny Beusa on guitars/vocals and BC Duesa on drums/vocals – have recently released the first single Pogo from their forthcoming EP Social Atoms. Assisting on bass this evening was Sean Caskey from Last Dinosaurs, and together the power pop was sufficiently delivered and had a handful of heads bobbing as punters were steadily flowing in.

Alex Wall and Jordan Malane from The Bleeding Knees Club picked up the pace with their lo-fi garage punk tunes from their EP Virginity. Songs that have been rotated on Triple J since their release, Bad Guys and Have Fun had those familiar with them bouncing towards the stage in enthusiasm. The band has been compared to California surf-rock band Wavves and has obvious influences from The Black Lips. With lyrics based on cigarettes, getting drunk and being young, these guys really are all about having fun. They made do with the partially filled venue and put on an energy filled set.

By the time the last support act for the evening Papa vs Pretty entered the stage they were welcomed by a much more generous sized crowd than the previous acts. Tom Rawles’ distinctive vocal ability is evident from the first verse, and with Gus Gardiner on bass and Tom Meyers on drums, the trio delivered their melodic thrash pop with punch. With 4 years separating their debut EP and the release of their 2011 album United In Isolation, there appears to be a refreshing zig-zag in genre between their older and their newer songs. Rawles’ obvious songwriting talent becomes clear throughout the set, and the crowd goes nuts for One Of The Animals. The Sydney boys received a sizable audience response as they exited the stage and left the crowd sufficiently warmed up for the headliners.

After a relatively lengthy set change The Vines wasted no time in getting the party started. Album track Future Primitive had the crowd chanting, “Come and find me!” in no time, while limbs were flailing left, right and centre. Maintaining the energy, crowd favourite Highly Evolved had bouncers pulling crowd surfers from the mosh in seconds. There was minimal spacing between songs, besides a shoe being catapulted at drummer Hamish Rossers head, and vocalist Craig Nicholls complaining about a shitload of gum on his shoe before slowing down the pace with a stellar performance of the fourth version of Autumn Shade.

The mixture between albums, from Melodia to Winning Days and Highly Evolved to Future Primitive flowed seamlessly, and kept the audience on their toes with classics and new favourites. The highly recognizable intro to songs such as Outtathaway, Ride and Get Free were perfectly delivered and sent punters mental. Overall Nicholls delivered flawless vocals in combination with guitarist Ryan Griffiths remarkable performance on the strings, it is highly doubtful anybody left the venue this evening disappointed.