The Bakery is a quaint little venue tucked away somewhere in the depths of the cesspool that is Northbridge. Nestled amongst alleyways and carparks, the hanging lanterns and wooden crate seating of the beer garden provides a very bohemian setting for necking back a few ales and listening to music. Last Friday Sabot graced our city with their second visit in as many years and their frenzied drums and bass combo proved a hit with the crowd.

At Waugh With Gieles, an experimental/ambient guitar loops one-piece, squats on astro-turf behind a one foot tall white picket fence. A garden gnome, the only morsel within distance that could possibly also lay claim to being a band member. The crowd are transfixed by the transient, eerie chiming sounds he evokes from his guitar. He creates loops on his pedals and then adds cymbal crashes and other percussion via his laptop. It’s hard not to be involved, despite the lack of action, but this is the beauty of this artist. While his craft may be novel to many, this is its place here in this world.

Stina is the female counterpart of the previous artist. Though less transfixing, crowd members still lay down and appreciate Stina’s performance. Hexagon Halfblood resembled a sort of troupe on stage as they all took their places and played a set of moody post rock with a tinge of 1970s psychadelia, like the bastard child of Mogwai and The Doors. The band members swayed in the rhythms and textures they created, their full sound had no problem transferring through the air, the audience’s membranes infecting them with a similar groove.

Sabot came on later than expected and played until well after midnight, but the late hour didn’t affect the crowd as all the punters stayed around to witness the spectacle. Chris Rankin and Hilary Binder formed Sabot way back in 1988 and have been playing together since then – it shows in their live performance as the two artists’ playing locked into each others, twisting and turning, ultimately morphing into an almost indescibible mesh of noise/funk/hardcore. Rankin’s bass slapped, walked, slurred and purred as Binder’s beats got more and more disjointed. They played for 10, 15 minutes at a time, only resting briefly after each chimerical outburst. The duo easily navigate between several keys and time measures in each composition. Like all the other artists playing on the evening, their music was not for the faint hearted - you can’t help but marvel at their dexterity and conviction.