Live Review: San Cisco, The Preatures, The Jack Doepel & Jazz Quartet

Okay, I'm not going to lie here, the idea of seeing San Cisco headline an all ages show had me feeling a little sceptical. I couldn't imagine myself enjoying a show where the crowd's most popular geographic would be girls aged between 15 to 18 who were there purely to sing along to “DADADA-DA, DADADA-DA-DA”. Boy, what a foolish way to think. The Bakery was full of the old, the young, and everyone in between. With a sigh of relief, it was time to watch The Jack Doepel Jazz Quartet, who worked the crowd into a relaxed and cosy swing with their smooth jazz tunes. Their compositions, original of course, were thoroughly enjoyed by the early punters, and it was great to see something a little different on a bill dominated by indie tunes.

Next to take to the stage were Sydney quintet The Preatures, welcomed by a much larger crowd than their predecessors. The band were tight and classy from beginning to end, and it was extremely refreshing to watch the five-piece mix and mash their singing arrangements, with vocals split between keyboarder Isabella Manfredi and guitarist Gideon Bensen. Despite Manfredi having lost her voice, she performed with a confidence and charisma to be admired given the circumstances. Bensen's performance had a profoundly joyous effect on the audience, his gruff vocals and Jagger-esque stage presence keeping the grins on everyone's faces.

The Bakery's interior was bulging at the walls by the time San Cisco arrived on stage, and Jordi Davieson had the crowd in the palm of his hand immediately, charming them with his song descriptions. The band's deft ability to write simple tunes with easily singable choruses and ridiculously catchy melodies has worked brilliantly in their favour, allowing them to run through Golden Revolver, Hunter, Reckless and Stella in quick succession. Expectedly, Awkward was met with the biggest cheers of the night, before Davieson was back on stage for an encore, going solo for John's Song. Again, I was a fool to think that these guys could deliver anything but the best in front of a home crowd, and I would encourage anyone who hasn't witnessed their live performance to go and check them out, which you'll no doubt only be getting more and more chance to in the coming years.