Live Review: MS MR & YesYou

Brisbane's YesYou kicked off the evening's proceedings. As a relatively new (and young) band, the outfit struggled to hide their inexperience, as their insecurities bled through their masks making it a little uncomfortable to watch. The quartet seemed unsure, confused and nervous in the way they portrayed themselves on stage. They played it safe, delivering a slick performance but it would be nice to see the tropical-pop outfit branch out into bolder, more daring areas next time.

With a burst of colour, Lizzy Plapinger appeared on stage, channeling Katy Perry with her wash-out blue bob haircut, lime green high-waisted tights and a bright pink jacket reminiscent of The Pink Ladies' '60s attire a la Grease. Plapinger, the MS of the duo, wowed the audience with her gutsy choice in fashion and dominant stage presence, complemented further by the cutesy, camp nature of her MR, Max Hershenow.

Tonight, MS MR showcased their four-track EP Candy Bar Creep Show, while also slipping in new songs from their forthcoming debut record – to be released in May. The new material – led by first single, Fantasy – follows through with their haunting, bass-heavy approach to power pop. However, each song unleashed this evening carried a different face – one song edging closer towards the tribal end of the spectrum, another to the country. They even threw in a cover of Patrick Wolf's Time Of My Life – completely reinventing the song with the MS MR stamp. Each track stayed true to their sonic fusion of technicolour pop and the darkness of cinema-noir, every intrinsic part heard on the recorded material fleshed out among four musicians in their live set-up.

There was a sweet marriage between the hostility in Plapinger's husky vocals and the sexiness in her stage presence and performance, as she spat out the dark and haunting lyrics “Welcome to the inner workings of my mind” of current radio hit single Hurricane, while playfully moving her hips. It's easy to compare her style to that of Florence Welch; the heady drums of Fantasy, her fiery onstage persona, and those powerful pipes.

The duo were genuinely appreciative to the sold out crowd for the support, as Plapinger screamed with delight at the end of the show, “I am gonna kiss every single one of you!”