For one beautiful night, the crowd at The Forum remained collectively ignorant to the cold winter winds outside, and channelled their inner ‘summer festival selves’. Crowdsurfing? Check. Drunk guys dancing awkwardly with each other? Check. Good local tunes? Ch-Ch-check!
The night kicked off with a bang, quite literally, as Ballarat rockers Goldfields took to the stage. Their percussive, loud, and uber catchy tracks blasted forth into a sea of eager punters ready to rock away the winter blues…and rock they did. With an EP on the way, and a confirmed slot at Parklife, this won’t be the last we hear of these rock n rollers from country Victoria.
The crowd was warmed up, the beers were cold, and even the Roman statues that adorn the stage at The Forum were ready to boogie. All we needed now was the band. So did they deliver? Hell yes.
“Wow. I’m petrified up here” were the first words out of vocalist Josh Moriarty‘s mouth, and if he meant what he said, you sure couldn’t tell.
Pastel LED lights, giant ferns, and a wardrobe that looked like something out of The Wedding Singer – the boys from Miami Horror hadn’t just teleported us into a hot summer’s night – but they’d managed to send us back to the 80’s too. Match that with some hardcore synth riffs, impressive vocal falsetto and a bunch of solid summer tunes and you’ve got yourself a party.
Miami Horror’s debut album Illumination is full of tracks that bring exactly that, and this gig was no exception. From the opening chords of hit ‘Sometimes’, it was all bright, loud, and incredibly upbeat. A varied crowd of hipsters, bogans and the occasional oldie (parentals, one would assume?) bopped, swayed and even indulged in the occasional fist pump. But who could blame them? Anthemic summer tunes ‘Holidays’ and ‘Summersun’ were executed with the kind of confidence that would make even the most reserved among us start a cheeky toe tap.
In an industry obsessed with the word ‘electro’ it’s nice to see it done right, and even nicer to see it done locally. Time will tell just how long Australian shores can contain the boys from Melbourne, and the immense talent that was put on show this weekend.
NB: Special mention goes out to the couple who slow-danced their way through the last three songs, gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes as if they were at an Enya concert. Oh to be so in love.
– Ash London
