Saturday night was the end of an era. After announcing their split earlier this month, the young Melbourne band Snakadaktal said their goodbyes and played their chilled, dance-pop gems one last time.
Having performed at Melbourne’s Northcote Social Club almost three years ago just after their Triple J Unearthed High win, the night provided a lovely feeling of closure for the band, who achieved so much in their short existence.
It may have been the end of Snakadaktal’s journey, but Saturday night was just the beginning for opening band Alan Palano.
Comprised of some of the Snakadaktal members’ siblings, the teenage indie outfit played their first public show. While they might still be learning, the group definitely have potential, performing with a natural tightness that seemed to work really well in their favour.
Having performed with the headliners a number of times over the past few years, Melbourne’s Rat & Co were the next of three support acts to take the stage.
The brainchild of Chet Faker’s bassist Joshua Delaney, the quartet’s sound is the perfect mix of ethereal rhythms and a totally grounded undercurrent.
Using a combination of intricate and interesting electronic techniques and simple yet effective guitar lines, the four-piece absolutely nailed the atmospheric genre.
The final support came from Melbourne group City Calm Down. Having supported Snakadaktal a few times over the course of their career, including that same Northcote show in 2011, this was another lovely moment where everything came full circle.
Somehow, the band managed to sound like Foals (but dancier), The Cure (but dancier), and RÜFÜS, yet without ever sounding like a carbon copy.
Their mix of electronic dance-rock was incredibly entertaining. Special props to lead singer Jack Bourke, who absolutely nailed the vocals. With an incredible voice and a band that seems to know exactly what the industry and audiences want, the locals ‘brought it’.
Finally, just before midnight, the little curtain was pulled back to reveal a dreamy smoke-filled stage adorned with little lamps – a perfect visual representation of Snakadaktal.
The five young musicians wandered out to rapturous applause, lining up across the front of the stage before drummer Barna Nemeth grabbed a microphone.
Starting the emotional banter early, he thanked the audience for supporting them over the last five years while reminiscing on Snakadaktal’s career. “We started playing in Phoebe’s bedroom. We didn’t think anyone except our friends would ever listen to us. We got 100 EPs pressed, and we were worried about being able to get rid of them!”
Retreating to their respective positions on stage, the band members took a deep breath before beginning their last ever set – and boy, was it a good one.
Tighter than ever before and more delicate and dreamy than their last performances, the added emotion of the night just made for an incredible experience. Overheard from a number of people in the crowd were lines such as, “Why is this happening? They can’t stop now, this is so perfect!”
Opening with atmospheric ‘Union’, a sense of calm washed over the audience; everything just seemed to work. The synchronisation between vocalists Phoebe Cockburn and Sean Heathcliff is always beautiful, but during this final show, they were on another level.
Playing the majority of songs from their critically-acclaimed début (and final, *tear*) album Sleep In The Water, as well as earlier tunes, it was clear that the five-piece had set out to pour their hearts and souls into the music one last time – and it translated incredibly well in the live setting.
Quite a large proportion of the crowd seemed to know the Melbourne band personally. It was great to see the support from friends and family, however towards the end of their set – when it was starting to get really sad – a bunch of people were talking, jostling, and yelling. This is commonplace at a normal gig, but it was a little irritating to be watching a band in their last moments while being so distracted.
“Wow, that happened very fast,” Phoebe suddenly said, after playing breakout single ‘Dance Bear’.
“This is…this is our last song,” she said, before Heathcliff took to the microphone and thanked his bandmates for the last five years while getting a little choked up in the process.
Finishing the set with ‘The Sun’ I, II and III consecutively, the band finished playing the way they started – for themselves, all collapsing into a huge group hug on stage.
There were never any airs about the five-piece: no pretenses, no trying to be cool. Snakadaktal might have had a lot more life in them, but perhaps they could see themselves fading. Whatever the situation, it’s a sad farewell to one of Australia’s most intriguing and successful young bands in recent years. Here’s hoping they all go onto other projects, for the kind of talent that every single member possesses is too strong to go to waste.
