Live Review: Ladyhawke, All The Colours

Melbourne progressive pop rock outfit All The Colours looked quite the part as they took to the stage at the Metro dressed in dapper white shirts, bow ties and jackets with skinny jeans to add a hint of cool to the look. A riff that sounded like it was straight out of an Eagles track started off proceedings as the voice of singer Josh Moriarty (of Miami Horror fame) cut through the air like a knife. A cranking guitar riff finished off the track and the pace was set for the rest of the evening.

Fellow guitarist Joshua Mann took over the reins for balled, Waiting, as the band warmed up the gradually growing crowd with sultry, bluesy sounds and funky bass riffs. Impressive harmonies melded into a cranking chorus on Love Like This before the four-piece finished things off with an epic instrumental breakdown and a good dose of head banging.

Pip Brown, aka Ladyhawke, crept tentatively onto the stage for her set in a cloud of blue smoke, taking her place in front of a sparkly microphone adorned with fairy lights. Looking very Stevie Nicks with her long mane of hair, she got straight into it with Back Of The Van to the delight of a packed-out room. A mixture of old and new tracks followed including Anxiety, Professional Suicide, Magic and recent hit, Black White & Blue, gradually warming the crowd up as she went. Despite years of performing, Brown still came across as quite nervous and inexperienced throughout the performance, spending a lot of time looking down at her guitar with her vocals consequently being drowned out by the rest of the band.

Brown seemed to find her groove in down-tempo ballad Cellophane, which really showed off her great voice. Following a slightly awkward announcement that the band would shortly be leaving the stage for an encore, they smashed out the classic Paris Is Burning, getting a great reception before wandering off.

After a very short interlude, Brown and her four long-haired friends were back to finish off with Gone Gone Gone and mega hit, My Delirium, which sent the crowd into a last-minute frenzy. A solid performance, but there's still lots of room for improvement for this rapidly rising star.