With Raval gone and the Annandale under similar threat, Sydney is once again set to witness a facelift of its live scene. Hotel Hollywood, around the corner from the Macquarie Hotel, is looking to pick up from where Raval left off, while two new venues have popped up, looking to fill a gap in the live scene that goes all the way back to the Hopetoun closing in 2009. The first, Rock Lily, is a 200-or-so-capacity venue out at Star City, apparently directly inspired by the Hopetoun. Who from the Sydney scene will trek the distance to the venue is anyone’s guess, but it certainly presents potential.
The money of most, however, seems to be on the upgraded Kings Cross Hotel – set to feature a new emphasis on live music, thanks in great part to the FBi Social room, which kicked off a week or two ago. With a great vibe, great sound and continually impressive rosters, the 200-capacity venue looks set to be the ‘hot spot’ of the Sydney live scene over the next 10 weeks, as the radio station undergoes a trial run of the concept – seemingly inspired by what Vice magazine gets up to back in the UK.
Tonight saw the official public opening of the Hotel and its FBi Social room, with live music and DJs set over five rooms – impressive talent being distributed throughout. While communication between security on each level needs to be improved, should multi level events continue at the venue, this is a small gripe for what was otherwise a fantastic event. Kings Cross Hotel have shown that they have the potential to be the hottest new live music venue in Sydney… if they play their cards right.
The cards they played tonight kicked off with Marcus Gordon, aka Spookyland, in the “Dive Bar” – possibly my favourite room in the venue. The Sydney based artist, armed only with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica, is a purveyour of the Americana sound – inspired by artists such as Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Gordon’s stripped back live approach feels surprisingly different to what he put out on his debut EP, Killin’ Two Birds With One Stone, yet holds its own, and maintains the same spirit. I found particular enjoyment in his cover of Springsteen’s “State Trooper”, though all in all I didn’t find myself won over by the performance. I wonder- does he play in band mode? I feel I’d connect with this more… I may have to look through some past AU reviews!
I headed upstairs next for Pluto Jonze, who by all accounts is looking and sounding more confident, more polished and better than ever. Still armed with two televisions on either side, adding a visual element to the performance, you no longer feel distracted by the element – as what’s going on on the stage is just as enthralling. There’s certainly a Primal Scream element to the sound, which blurs the line between electronic music and underground/garage rock.
Entering the FBi Social room for the first time, The Laurels were jamming through an impressive psychedelic set – aided by signature tracks such as “Black Cathedral” and the great sound of the venue. They always spice things up on the stage – I don’t think you’ll ever see two Laurels sets that are the same – but I still have to ask the question: when are we going to finally see an album by these guys?
I hadn’t heard of the band I saw next – Tortoiseshell, but was impressed. There seems to be a bit of an 80s vibe going on, though I didn’t see nearly enough of the set to comment in detail. I’ll be sure to catch them again in the near future. Meanwhile, back in The Dive, Kirin J Callinan was seeing his standard crowd – one predominantly full of those who knew what to expect, and enjoy his music, with a few new listeners thrown in who entertain a look of bewilderment.
Kirin is a one man music machine, making music that is certainly not for everyone, but those who can appreciate his cautious creative tone will find themselves very entertained. Tonight was no exception. The more daring hung around, while the rest slowly moved towards the exit. Interesting to note, however, that the only ‘heckler’ seemed to come from behind the bar.
As the venue filled to what seemed like capacity, the crowd was then broken up between Belles Will Ring in the FBi room and Melbourne’s World’s End Press down on Level One. I caught the latter, who inspired a dance party – and rightly so. Their music is just too damn fun, aided by a great amount of energy from the men on the stage. “Only The Brave” was a notable highlight of the set – but only because it was a known track. In reality, the set is one of consistent quality.
I closed out my night with the most talked about set of the evening: the return of Dappled Cities. Having spent much of the last 12 months working on new material, it had been a while since we’d enjoyed the iconic Sydney groups company, and tonight they were here to play 9 new tracks (apparently out of a possible 40).
Some of the new tracks killed it, others fell a little flat – I just wish I had the names of the songs to bring you more precise judgement. As with the earlier material, their tunes work the best when they sneak in those great keyboard moments, alongside playful chants. The new tracks were sandwiched by two of their best known tracks: The set opening with “The Price” and ending with “The Night is Young at Heart”, as the crowd chanted for more, but to no avail. There is plenty of potential with the new material, and I for one am quite excited to hear the finished product.
As mentioned earlier in the review, this is definitely the venue to watch in Sydney. They would have to make some ridiculously poor calls to fall flat on their faces – especially while FBi is involved. We at the AU review, alongside the rest of the Sydney music community, look forward to seeing what comes of this new multi-level experience.
