Saturday night, I was heading off to see Jonathan Boulet. I entered the Beach Road Hotel, got stamped, and moved towards the tiny stage...

Megastick Fanfare were nearing the end of their set. They are definitely one of my favourites of the local Sydney scene, along with similar artists such as Seekae, Parades (Jonathan's other band) and of course Jonathan himself.

Although I didn't get to catch much of their set, I did get to hear "June Strangelets", a track that's definitely been played constantly on my last.fm.

They had a feverish tempo in the way they coaxed the sounds out of their instruments. Cramped up on that small stage in the Beach Road, I was wishing that they could be playing their music on a larger stage; although it made things intimate, it felt as if they were bursting at the seams.

Kicking myself for missing most of Megastick Fanfare's set, it was now Grace Woodroofe's turn to take to the stage. She possessed a voice which, to me, sounded like a hybrid between Tori Amos and the raw and heartfelt musings of Jeff Buckley. Her music was filled with melodrama, with thoughtful lyrics that accentuated the feel of the songs. Towards the end of her set, though, some of those songs did fall a bit flat, but maybe it was because we were unfamiliar with her music here in Sydney.

About a year or so ago I was driving back home late one night when "A Community Service Announcement" began to play: it was the first time I heard Boulet's music. It caught my attention almost instantly - the soothing repetitive guitar line and the gradual swell of the instruments resulted in a sound that was immense in scope and vision - I was surprised to learn that he was my age and made this amazing music in his garage. I was jealous, and still am.

I was really excited about seeing his live performance, knowing how intense his music was on record, I was interested to see if he could translate that intensity into a live performance.

I wasn't disappointed.

The crowd was also anxiously waiting, the venue had filled out pretty well considering it was a local artist.

They came out later than I expected, hitting the stage around 10:45, going straight into "You're A Animal", his new single, released last week.

They pretty much jolted the crowd awake, with the tumultuous drums signalling the start of the set. All the members broke out into harmonies, playing off one another creating a depth to the songs that many bands lack. This continued throughout the set, occurring in songs like "Ones Who Fly, Twos Who Die". The way that the band worked cohesively as a unit, and just the amount of fun that they were having, was a pleasure to watch. The stage was a problem again, but they had such an overpowering presence that it didn't matter at all.

They played a few of the newer songs interspersed throughout the set, to be released in next year's album. These were anything but lacklustre. By this stage the crowd had filled out to a substantial amount. There wasn't much moshing: it wasn't for lack of interest, but because most of the crowd was immersed in the music.

Jonathan Boulet live was much more impressive then I expected, even though he may have written and played all the instruments on his first album, the band had good chemistry on stage. Whilst not incorporating much of the vibrant imagery found in his video clips, he seemed much more interested in providing a tight set for his fans.

7.5/10