Live Review: The Preatures, The Ottomans

25 June 2013 | 9:33 pm | Benny Doyle

The single they’re on the road to promote, Is This How You Feel?, is a righteous celebration of good vibes, hands in the air-type stuff, and by the end of it all there isn’t a face not smiling right back at the band, a mutual love-in complete.

More The Preatures More The Preatures

After a grim, overcast day in Brisbane, there's nothing like some lively rock music to invigorate the spirit, and this double bill tonight lights a fire that doesn't go out. A chatty room is instantly put on notice when the howls of The Ottomans frontman Mitchell Dave-Lewis rain down. The five/six-piece (depending on the addition of their muted horn player) prop you up on their guitar-driven horse, lead you out onto the dusty main street of some boarded up ghost town and then give you one fateful look before shooting you dead on the spot. Their faux-western brand of blues rattles and hums, and although it falls off the wagon a few times, their set rumbles on unaffected. Lonely With You is the most recognised cut during their set, but they honestly have a whole bunch of other songs just as good. Music that demands straight whiskey and Marlboro reds, in that order.

Buzz has been swirling around The Preatures recently, and a sold out sign on the door tonight indicates a band that is blowing up. The showing that the five-piece put in doesn't hinder their chances of breaking out, either. It's rock'n'roll soul, with elements of disco, funk, psych and pop, and the panache with which it's all delivered defies the ideas of what this young band should be capable of. The shaggy-haired backbone of the group – guitarist Jack Moffitt, bassist Thomas Champion and drummer Luke Davison – keep the songs sharp and grounded; the duelling boy/girl vocal tradeoffs of Isabella Manfredi and Gideon Bensen allow the tracks to sparkle brightly. Manfredi holds this incredible power to make a song speak straight to a person. She locks into your gaze and sings directly at you – to you. All of a sudden there's no one else in the room. The frontwoman does this throughout the performance, and to everyone in attendance, so in reality you're not that special; but the fleeting chemistry she creates with each punter is incredibly strong, and it's a big talking point as soon as the guys leave the stage. When she gets on the keys, Bensen then works his magic, maintaining his rhythm guitar duties while delivering swaggering harmonies like a boss. The crowd dances and shakes along with the quintet, and although the band haven't even released an LP, they manage to pack an hour-long set with stunning songs end-to-end. The single they're on the road to promote, Is This How You Feel?, is a righteous celebration of good vibes, hands in the air-type stuff, and by the end of it all there isn't a face not smiling right back at the band, a mutual love-in complete.