The earliest-arriving fans formed a semi-circle around the centre of the dance floor during the first act’s performance, crowding the edges of the venue. The lanky support band, Glass Towers, belted out their first song to a shy, but steadily growing crowd.
However, it wasn’t until their final song that four eager audience members ran to the centre of the room to dance, filling the gap made by the circling crowd.
The lead singer, with his greased back hair and tight fitting attire, confessed to having “Splendour sickness” halfway through the set, and later apologised for his condition. Regardless, neither the brevity of the set nor the singer’s illness affected the entertaining indie rock style of the band.
Next up were mismatched 6-piece Cub Scouts. They wandered politely onto stage, each clothed in their own strikingly different style.
The lead singer’s vocals were clear and sweet and his smiles were charmingly audible when he sung. With two keyboards, a Daria-esque bass guitarist, a star-shaped tambourine and quietly smooth vocals, Cub Scouts are indie pop at its best.
This fact became increasingly apparent as their set continued, and as the keyboardists’ fingers danced across the keyboard for their song “Do You Care”.
This motion was mirrored in the audiences’ movements. Before playing their second-to-last song, the lead singer explained how he had thought their 40-minute set was a 30-minute set so to fill the final 10 minutes he would be playing a cover, adding that it was one of his favourite songs; as the first chords of Destiny’s Child’s “Jumpin’ Jumpin’” elicited a frenzied excitement from the audience.
With their fairy-light-laced instruments and amps plastered with nature photographs, Loon Lake isn’t your typical garage-style indie-rock band.
The close relations of the band members to each other (three of whom are brothers) gave the infectious impression of familiarity between each band member, which was transposed onto the audience.
With their catchy rock songs, including their more popular “Bad To Me”, “In The Summer” and “The Office”, and sideways grins at each other, they seemed just as comfortable playing on stage to a crowded room as they would if they were alone in a garage.
Lead singer Sam Nolan walked on stage alone at first, with his light blue guitar and characteristic voice crying out over the cheering, sold-out crowd. His grin was reflected back to him by the lead guitarist, who followed him onto the stage.
Not long after, the other three members fell into their places as a projector began to play scenes of brilliantly vibrant firework explosions behind them. Recently back from a handful of shows and festivals, Loon Lake showed an expert ease when involving the crowd in their set.
With Seinfeld references, an array of jokes and instructions on the projected images behind the band, and theatrical hand motions and clapping, Loon Lake fed off the excitement of the crowd and vice versa. Ending their set with the catchy summer song “Cherry Lips” and a cover of The Darkness’ “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”, Loon Lake’s performance was relentlessly engaging.
Overall, nothing was lost between the recorded music and the gig, but not a great deal was gained. However, this didn’t diminish the strength of their performance, due to the inherently raw style that they are known for.
– Alexandra Skeer
