Live Review: Gignition: St Judes Hotel, Parker Avenue, Abandon Earth, Say Sky, Reilly Craig

Despite a smaller turnout at The Railway Hotel, they were certainly not disappointed by an impressive line-up of bands and solo musicians at last week's Gignition. It also didn't hurt that the performances had been moved to outside in the beer garden where punters could drink a beer, soak up some sun and enjoy some tunes. Singer/songwriter Reilly Craig delivered an impressive solo acoustic performance, which included self-penned tracks Bear Town, Runaway and Mama, Leave It Alone. With a rich soulful voice, Craig even threw in a foot-stomping cover of Lonely Boy by The Black Keys to the delight of his audience. Opening with a U2-esque guitar sound and driving bass line, four-piece Say Sky rocked out with the upbeat Singers. On Breaking Into, vocalist Bam delivered smooth, understated vocals similar to those of Dougy Mandagi from The Temper Trap. Keep an eye out for theses guys in the future as they've got a lot of potential.

Alternate rock four-piece Abandon Earth performed tight covers of Them Bones by Alice in Chains and Mad World by Tears For Fears, the latter featuring awesome dueling guitar solos. Set highlight When Winter Comes featured a solid riff and great dynamics, and with a few more performances (and maybe some better gear), we could see great things from them. Next it was the debut Gignition performance of power rock trio Parker Avenue. While a little loose, first song Searching had solid guitar playing and great rock'n'roll vocals from front man Peter Ashton. Stoned & Quartered had a smooth bass line which supported the modest guitar work, conveying their focus on songwriting over the standard self-indulgent soloing found in other trios.

Art-rock female duo St Judes Hostel concluded the afternoon with their raw, punk-inspired playing contrasted by their sweet, nimble voices. Brothers, twisted and turned with key changes and many different parts, certainly left an impression on the audience. Hopefully we'll see a few more punters down at Gignition as summer draws near and the mercury starts to rise; there's certainly no shortage of local talent to entertain them on a Sunday afternoon in the sun.