The Horrors DJs, DAMPVAMP, LaMancha Negra @ Velvet Cave,Sydney (08/02/12)

Thu 9th Feb, 2012 in Gig Reviews

Down a lonesome alleyway on a silver summer’s eve, we creeped through the backdoor of what was once Club 77, now the entrance of The Velvet Cave. Through the parted curtains lay ghosts, ghouls, witches and psychedelic projections of Mick Jagger and ‘60s art films.

Under the influence of a Western cowboy tinge, La Mancha Negra’s black-and-white palette drew attention to their fully coloured sound. LMN put on a performance that began the night with a rush of layered vibrations, which included maracas and the faint hums and rattles of harmonica and tambourine played by the suave and slick front man Akira. The Velvet Cave’s choice of set design for the quartet accentuated the bliss of their sounds, which had the crowd churning out moves by the foot of the stage. The trio of lady vamps from the inner heart of Sydney, having just released their debut album Pagan Vegas, drew the crowd near with their eclectic electric guitar and heavy bass. Wearing white fur, floor-length dresses and silver cowboy hats (which later turned into the stark white of lingerie as Ariel webbed psychedelic blues lyrics into the dancing audience) they surely surprised newcomers to their music with their neo-blues beats.

The DAMPVAMP s combined performance art and sound into their set, with an aesthetic resemblance to U.S. duo CocoRosie, putting a spin a witchhouse spin on the DIY sound. Incredibly and beautifully juxtaposed between their sounds and their look on the night, they put on a performance composed of electric feedback, softened by the melodies of the harmonica in the background.

Hoping they would surprise us all with their very own midnight set, The Horrors, (well, really just Rhys, though the others were to be found within the nooks and crannies of the cave) got behind the decks and iMacs to spin some swingin’ tunes for the people. Consisting of the finest selection of psych-rock, rhythm & blues, garage such as The Syndicates’ Crawdaddy Simone, The Groupies’ Primitive and The Beatles’ Taxman mixed/meshed with newer tunes like Tame Impala’s Alter Ego had the entire room pulsating and oscillating wildly.

To follow suit, Flash & Crash DJs Velvet Gallagher and Ken Blements spun their own selection of freak beats, folk psych, garage punk and mod beats, all of which encompassed the psychedelic sensations of the ‘60s. With the crowd meshed together upon the stage and the optical ink floating over all of the skin, the records kept spinning through the early hours of Thursday morn.