On Friday night, the Indi Bar in Scarborough played host to T
he Gin Club
and their friends
The Ghost Hotel
and
Cat Black
.

Cat Black started the night off with the dark moody blues infused version of garage rock. Emma Heath’s, soulful Patti Smith-ish vocals, floated above pounding drums and bass and the stark guitar of Ryan Nash in a manner that just seems to fit.

To finish their set, Heath left the stage to let Nash, Leyla Chaka and Ash Wheeler belt out this incredible Motorhead/Destroyers sounding instrumental number that had the assembled punters yelling for more.

Next up were the Perth’s version of the supergroup … 

The Ghost Hotel

. Aaron Gibson and Paul Woods led the group through a simply amazing set. Starting with “Juiliet”, which if you closed your eyes you would have sworn was a Paul Kelly classic, through “Dead Letter Heart” which is just an incredible musical arrangement and a joy to hear live, onto the slow, semi acoustic “Abigail” before reaching the highlight of the set “Amantes” and the incredible “Let Your Hand be Your Guide”

For a band who profess to only rehearse a couple of hours before each gig, The Ghost Hotel have a phenomenal body of work to their name and are a band that should be experienced live.

In a game of musical chairs (4 guitars, 2 keyboards, a set of drums, 1 cello and a harmonica) The Gin Club began to show their class. Constantly swapping roles and instruments the group flowed through their set demonstrating a diverse range of musical abilities and influences. It was refreshing to be met with something new each time they began a song and to be left wanting more each time they played.

The Gin Club are not to be missed. Make sure you catch them on their next tour, incredible songs, masterful song-writing and some of the best muttonchops either side of the nullabor.