Live Review: Ball Park Music, Millions, Pluto Jonze

27 September 2014 | 1:27 pm | Daniel Comensoli

Bassist Jennifer Boyce stands in the middle of the stage — fitting given the rhythm section is key.

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Pluto Jonze open the night early, the lone Sydneysider in a Brisvegas showcase.
 
Opening with fan-favourite Plastic Bag In A Hurricane, and closing with Eject, Jonze (aka Lachlan Nicolson) and co put in an able and mobile set of indie pop tunes. Heavily Beck-influenced, the show is a great warm-up for what follows.
 
Looking every bit a classy wedding or prom band, Millions put in a strong showing, partnering antique vibes with scraggly riffs. Slower numbers are clean and crisp, and justifiably well received by the growing crowd. New single Clementine is all charming melody and nice guitar work. But the set highlight is a cover of the Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody, where lead singer Dominic Haddad shows off his impressive vocals. Everyone is swooning.
 
Millions are a tough act to follow, but fellow Queenslanders Ball Park Music are more than up to the task. The old and the young all lose their novelty 3D glasses as soon as the songs start. Bassist Jennifer Boyce stands in the middle of the stage — fitting given the rhythm section is key — full and intense, hurling songs forward and creating the dynamic base for danceable songs.
 
The sloppy, slack-jawed charm of early material blends well with the crisp and brainy songs from Puddinghead. Punters don’t need any prompting to sing along on older cuts. Sad Rude Future Dude has an extended, jam-heavy middle that comes off great, especially when the keys are allowed to rip in the centre. The variation of iFly is unexpected, but exceptional — morphing the sickly sweet pop of the original into a droney, washed-out haze lends it new weight and substance.
 
Either side of the set, two impromptu stages of dancers form on the edges of the theatre. Security seem to be able to do little about it. Or maybe they are just as into it as everyone else.