Live Review: Sugar Fed Leopards, China Beach, Madeline Leman & The Desert Swells

Catering for a crowd of rhinestone-encrusted oddballs, Corner Hotel has brought us the unholy union of Madeline Leman & The Desert Swells and Brunswick's China Beach to kickstart tonight's marathon of gettin' down.

While both acts certainly share a common theme of glitzy nostalgia that binds the party together, Leman's country songs neatly juxtapose the absolute ruckus of China Beach while warming the audience up for the main event. Who could've imagined that songs about truck drivers and Nashville ambitions could transition so smoothly into dirty jazz/funk?       

With a fashion sense that's best described as 'Saturday Night Fever meets Kath & Kim on acid', Sugar Fed Leopards take to the midnight stage in their pink wigs and sequined outfits to the applause of an crowd, which clearly appreciates a little pageantry. Here to profess their romantic feelings for the audience on Valentine's Day weekend and celebrate the release of their new single entitled Rose, tonight is the band's first and only live appearance of the year. Announcing their upcoming hiatus as a planned effort to write and record more magic in the studio, the Corner crowd is just glad that the Leopards are here to get our feet moving.

With song titles such as Shut Up! (Show Me With Your Shoes), Ghost Of Disco and Fresh Jaguar Meat, it's clear that Sugar Fed Leopards subscribe to the belief that pop music should come from your crotch, rather than your brain. Jamming out a dreamy, often intertwining, musical styling of funk, R&B and disco, the band play their songs with a genuine sense of love and respect for the genres that brought them all together for this passion project. 

Although thickly rooted in the mercurial playground of funk and soul, the thumping rhythm of their live show and girly vocal harmonies occasionally lead Sugar Fed Leopards to recall Blondie and The B-52's. Lead vocalist 'Sugar Breath' (Steph Brett) seductively twirls around the simple melodies of the band with the help of back-up singers 'Lemona Squeeze' (Louise Terry) and 'Coco Caramelle' (Carrie Webster). Complete with tongue-in-cheek synchronised dance moves, the stage presence of this candy-coloured trio is simply electric.

All the lonely cowboys and dancing queens tonight who missed out on a Valentine can take solace in one simple fact: No matter who you are, or where you might be, Sugar Fed Leopards loves ya, baby.