Live Review: Ball Park Music, Millions, Pluto Jones

Pluto Jonze warmed up the building audience with some catchy fuzz tunes and possessed all the enthusiasm you’d expect from a band playing in our state for the first time.  New single Sucker laid claim to the legitimacy of the group’s upcoming release, and all in all, they were a strong support act.

Donning sharp shirts and suit jackets, Brisbane-based Millions upped the ante with plenty of swagger in their performance, kicking things off with the smooth sounds of Slow Burner and sending the women in the front rows swooning. Showcasing a few new tracks from their upcoming record, it was a perfect matinee performance for their upcoming debut album tour.

As you’d expect, Ball Park Music had the crowd going nutty from the get-go. Once the 3D glasses were on, they burst out with Literally Baby, an apt starting point considering it’s the first track from the band’s first album, and it gave frontman Sam Cromack plenty of opportunity to stretch his legs and show off his hilarious dance moves.

New tracks Struggle Street and Polly Screw My Head Back On were well received, but Sad Rude Future Dude took it up a notch, and considering the volume of the sound the band was producing coming through the speakers, the strength of the collective audience singing “All my love is gone” was impressive. The next three tracks were probably the high point of the set – Everything Is Shit Except My Friendship With You has become another Ball Park classic, and it was performed brilliantly; their cover of Vampire Weekend’s Diane Young was even better in live form, and a stroke of genius on the band’s part; and finally, a slower version of iFly proved to be a real winner and strangely enough, despite the obvious profanity, would work extremely well as a love ballad.

The group scored bonus points with Surrender, revealing the song was actually written at the Astor itself, before Trippin’ The Light Fantastic worked everyone up again and ended the set with an insane seizure-inducing light show. Encore Fence Sitter was a perfect way to end the evening; there is no doubt that Ball Park Music is one of the best live bands in Australia.