British India

With a city in the grips of football fever and Melbourne's weather remaining as unpredictable as ever, it is really hard to convey to you, dear reader, how great a spectacle it was to witness a large number of music devotees descending upon the musical institution, The Corner Hotel (and in particular, the assembled throng who were there for headliners, British India- a group that are hot contenders for the present title of Best Aussie Live Act.)

The first set was by The Howl, a young but extremely confident group who thrashed out some hypnotic basslines and thudding beats. Moreover, this was all achieved while the guitarist and singer danced and paraded about. The music was littered with some raspy screams which made me think of the band, Jet. Combined with the interesting time changes and the immediately catchy, energetic songs, it made me think that this band could become a largely popular one with time.

Their set culminated with a second drum kit being set up and the guitarist clearly took great pleasure in smashing the shit out of some drums before each band member was introduced, something this reviewer has never before seen occur during a support act's set.

Dead Video were next and they entertained the burgeoning crowd with some fine rock, with tracks like Don't Want To Go Outside and Livin' In A Vacuum.

The group also acknowledged the former act's great set but they were also crowd-pleasers with their blend of frenzied rock music that would feature well alongside The Mess Hall and Wolfmother. They also had some interesting throwback riffs including two distinct ones which sounded similar to Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues and The Who's cover of Roadrunner.

But truth be told the audience was really only there for the headliners. I say this because while a steady audience streamed in during the first two acts, by the time British India graced the stage, The Corner was packed to the rafters. Plus, the crowd really started moshing and getting into the proceedings thanks to some crowd surfers and one guy flashing his homemade sign to all and sundry during India's set.

With a maze of camera-phones askew to capture the night for posterity and the moshpit bopping along like their lives depended upon it, the band tightly sliced and diced the air with their rock tracks on the second night that weekend at that particular venue.

Teenage Mother saw guitarist, Nic Wilson, get down and dirty with the great unwashed. Meanwhile, the subsequent song, I Said I'm Sorry was introduced as being about the "false apologies" and this was accompanied by stunning acrobatics, including some pointing and jumping around.

Other songs included: Run The Red Light and previous single Tie Up My Hands. It goes without saying that the latter boded extremely well with the crowd who found they couldn't help but sing along during the chorus.

Basically, the group provided another set of heavy rock, no bullshit tracks to an audience of fans who appear to be on the increase thanks to the group's prolific songwriting and strong work ethic regarding touring. And while the latter often means you only get what you put in, clearly this group are due to get even better with time thanks to their own diligence.

Share this review on Facebook