It was a night of art wank at one of Melbourne’s hippest venue’s, where the cooler-then-thou love to show off their vintage threads and and self-importantly spout off their knowledge of obscure underground artists amidst a haze of booze fuelled electronic soundscapes. First off the bat was local Angel Eyes whose music is far better suited to the vibe of The Workers then it was in the last venue I saw the man play. It’s a shame only a handful of punters arrived early enough to catch his set as there is something about his brooding synth and ethereal vocals that is both comforting as well as unsettling. Angel Eyes live show would greatly benefit from visual projections to give the audience a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. Even though his music is strangely compelling, watching him onstage bathed in red light, barely moving as he concentrated intently on creating his sound made it easy for the mind to wander.
Next up were a local duo who go by the name Forces. I know very little about this act as they turn up nothing in a Google search asides from a Soundcloud page and had little idea of what to expect from their set. Fortunately their live show exceeded my few pre-conceptions and Forces got the crowd moving with their party mash-ups. It was great to see Amanda Brown at the front of the crowd, leading the charge on the dance floor as Forces got loose with the audience. Their sound is heavily influenced by all things 80’s and the lads were obviously enjoying themselves as they bopped around onstage behind their lap top and electronic drum set up. Definitely an act worth keeping an eye on if you’re into sample based sounds and a healthy dose of uncoordinated dancing.
If you enjoy the sweet, sweet sounds of masturbatory art then you’ll lap up what Fabulous Diamonds have to offer. The two-piece compromised of Jarrod Zlatic and Nisa Venerosa have a penchance for long, drawn out instrumental pieces that build painstakingly slowly and require patience and an open mind. Their live show was an anti-climactic affair with the band lacking the intensity it takes to successfully execute the sounds. Their long songs all tapered off into nothing, with no compelling, spontaneous moments. To me their set was a miscellaneous collection of drawn out, droning, abrasive distortion but to be fair the majority of the crowd seemed pleased with the band’s efforts.
Finally the lady of the hour stepped onstage and it was immediately apparent that we were in for a treat. Amanda Brown has an amazing presence and she got the party started as she worked her way around the stage while her men got busy with the pedals/mixer/keys setup. LA Vampires put on an impressive show. Their live mixing was easy to loose yourself in as Brown’s sultry vocals pulled you back out of the darkness and into party ecstasy.
Brown fired up the crowd to near riotous states as she requested some ‘sexy lighting’ and continued to dance a top of tables and chairs before delving into the mosh to get up and close with the punters. The music itself was a fantastic mix of dance genres with moments of goth and indie inflections. Brown ended the night on a high, performing the last song of the evening on top of the bar, before wishing us well and hanging back to have a drink with the audience after the show. To put it simply – LA Vampires are incredibly amazing live and if you missed them then you should kick yourself for not being cool enough to have been there to be part of the magic.
