Live Review: The Temper Trap, Tash Sultana

Tash Sultana revolutionises the idea of a one woman band, captivating tonight's audience with an array of loop pedals, drum tracks and guitars. Punters were left astonished at the multi-instrumentalist's genre-fusing abilities. These included playing rock riffs over trap beats, a flute solo over looped beatboxing and plucking reggae guitar chords while scatting. Sultana structures her closing tracks Notion and Jungle similarly. She begins by layering on the chord progression and percussions before bringing her gripping vocal lines into the fray. This is topped off with surprisingly heavy and distorted guitar solos over the otherwise mellow tracks. Sultana's passionate dancing persisted even while swapping instruments, signifying a complete immersion into her music. The Melbourne-based artist presented with the charisma of a co-headliner as opposed to a support; a spectacle, not a gimmick.

Tonight, The Temper Trap proved that they're still as driven and talented as ever, delivering a career-spanning set to a sold out audience. The four-piece kicked off strongly with Thick As Thieves, a rousing foot stomping rock piece. The crowd then rejoiced with the beginning of older track Love Lost. The Melbourne outfit kept this energy rising with another popular song, Trembling Hands, before delving into newer material. Their new, anthem-driven album Thick As Thieves lent itself well to live performance. Punters emphatically mimicked the wordless chorus of So Much Sky, their enthusiasm having hardly wavered throughout the night. Current single Lost was also well received, with a melodic hook accompanying an overall sound not dissimilar to U2's nostalgic '80s ballads.

Frontman Dougy Mandagi wasn't afraid to incorporate experimental elements, pouring water over a tom-drum and using the flashing stage lights to capture its movement as he played. It was hard to believe a crowd at max capacity could get any louder until the ever-grateful performers closed with Sweet Disposition. The euphoric singalong that followed required no cues from the band as the attendees were all well-rehearsed.