I'll admit that tonight's banquet of music was something to get excited about. With hardly any obvious musical connections between the main slot and the supports , it was bound to be an interesting night. 

The Maple Trail kicked off the evenings proceedings, lead by one-man troubadour Adian Roberts with his ever-changing group of talented musicians. Originally conceived as a side-project to his other band Belles Will Ring, The Maple Trail has evolved into something much grander than its past-time intentions. 

Throughout their set, the band touched upon a continuous theme of lonesome blues and country repetition. But in every song, nothing was what it seemed. “Nebraska-inspired” ghostly highway tunes were transformed into full-scale assaults on the audience, literally exploding with arrangements and vocal harmonies. This was thanks to the wide assortment of lap steel, glockenspiel, percussion and backing vocals from the likes of multi-instrumentalist Pip Smith and the other band members. 

Another key highlight was Aidan's use of looping, especially when he struck his acoustic guitar with a bow and made the sound of a full violin quartet as a backing track. The dramatic and intense set ended with a song called "“The Drug”" which climaxed in a full-band sing along and featured other friends and musicians from the audience. 

Next up were Songs, a band I've been meaning to see since I moved to Sydney over a year ago. After hearing so much about them, it was easy to see what the fuss was all about. Rip roaring into their set with howling guitars and a narky set of vocals by Max Doyle sounding not to far from a Tom Verlaine and Tom Petty-style yelp. The sound of Songs is sort of like an off-beat mix tape of some of your favorite bands rolled into one big psychedelic joint. Why their song "“Different Light"” isn't the hit single of last year is beyond me, but that was just the beginning of my confusion as to why this band wasn't bigger than they really are.

Everything seemed perfectly organised, while still remaining constantly fresh and unexpected throughout. Bassist and singer Ela Stiles is more than just the hottest woman you've ever seen - virtually every time she joined in with the vocals, you felt the song escalate to new levels. But lets not neglect the insanity of guitarist Jeff Burch who makes Johnny Greenwood look like an pansy. The one-off exception of Chapter Music label owner Guy Ritchman from Melbourne on the keys also became a worthwhile advantage in laying the melodies even higher than they were. I couldn't remember the last time I was this excited when seeing a band, especially when their surf jams evolved into krautrock noise explosions. 

I'll stop blowing my load here for a second and try to get on with the review about the headliner for the night, none other than Melbourne's Pikelet, touring in support of her critically acclaimed second album “Stem”. The distinctive female songwriter took the stage, but this time instead of appearing as her solo self, a further three members had joined the Pikelet ensemble. 

Despite the songs being constructed solo, the new members added what most listeners always hope for in a live experience. Pikelet kicked off the set with an ambient piece which could have nestled safely beside a “Another Green World” out-take. After the intro, an acoustic guitar carried the next couple of songs and some traditional pop songwriting was squeezed into a bombardment of tribal percussion and electronics. 

While on first impressions, the simple Nintendo-esque sounds are something a teenager could smack out onto a casio keyboard, but the more layered and technical the arrangements become, the clearer it is to see what a unique talent Pikelet really is. Mid-way through the set a song kicks off with sampled bird whistles and suddenly the whole crowd is whistling along in sync, if it wasn't for the poppy vocal melody over the top one would have thought they were in Taronga Zoo at the exotic bird section. 

The set drew mostly of songs from her latest album including single “"The Weakest Link”", and they even managed to include a couple of unreleased tracks. The night concluded with an encore performance about “friendship” that was dedicated to the band mates and audience members. Apparently, its because of them that she has reached this creative peak in her career. I always love gigs with a lighthearted moral and a happy ending.