Live Review: British India, Magic Bones, Singles

Melbourne’s Singles proved to be a great starter for the night. Their set just got better and better as they went on, thoroughly entertaining the half-full room.

Magic Bones were up next and added a bit of diversity to the line-up thanks to the powerful female vocals of Kiri O’Connor. Their constant instrument swapping throughout the set was bizarre, but it was rather enthralling nonetheless and kept the audience on their toes.

The room was already quite balmy when British India announced themselves, but they didn’t waste any time getting the full room hot and heavy, kicking off their set with This Dance Is Loaded. The golden trio from LP, Controller, received one of the best responses of the night, with lead singer Declan Melia dedicating Summer Forgive Me to all the couples in the room, following it up with Plastic Souvenirs and the melodic Blinded. 

Despite only being released a week ago, Wrong Direction was confidently delivered and was well-received by the audience. The boys knew the way to our hearts, and after testing out another new track from their forthcoming fifth LP, they rewarded us with old favourite Run The Red Light.

Declan Melia tested the crowd, asking what tracks they wanted to hear, but when they couldn’t come up with a consistent response, no one seemed to mind when he decided to play his personal favourite, God Is Dead, Meet The Kids. Punters loved the explosive Vanilla, while slow-burning I Can Make You Love Me really showcased just how far the band has come musically. Ending the set with Black And White Radio just proved that their old tracks are still killer. But apparently this outstanding set wasn’t enough for the sweaty crowd or band, who returned to tell us that we all gotta Fight For Our Right (To Party!).

Despite being a ‘mature’ band now, British India showed us they’re still able to channel all that angst energy into their performance to produce an energetic and brilliant night of alternative rock.