Live Review: Gignition

It was a shame that on such a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon, this Gignition performance was relegated to indoors rather than the beer garden. Nevertheless, this didn't hinder the quality of any of the performances.

Dressed in an attention-grabbing pink dress and armed with a Casio keyboard, singer-songwriter Ciara Louise entertained the afternoon crowd with her rich voice and impressive piano playing. Self-penned tracks The Impossible and Identity showed off her fine falsetto voice which managed to still shine through the slightly murky mix of the PA speakers.

As the first band of the night, folk-rock four-piece Jennifer Hardy & The First Fleet did a great job of getting the crowd going. Switching between piano and acoustic guitar, Hardy was in fine form, delivering pitch-perfect renditions of Paris and In Bloom as well as new material from her latest album Blackened Eyes.

Guitar virtuoso Joe Simich impressed the crowd with his skilled electric guitar playing and warm, mellow vocals. Original compositions MIA and Bought Out combined solid guitar playing with great songwriting. Simich capped off the set by looping his rhythm guitar over and over again, layering increasingly intricate melodies on top of one another to great effect.

Local duo Tom Skipworth and Kal Shepherd aka The Moonwhores took to the stage next, delivering a much-needed hit of grungy White Stripes-influenced punk rock for the increasing crowd. The inclusion of House Of The Rising Sun and Folsom Prison Blues mixed with great riff-heavy originals such as LAX made them the stand out act of the night.

Closing out the show was acoustic guitar duo Mind Canary, made up of Conal and Jake Savins. The brothers traded guitars and vocals throughout the set, each one showcasing their smooth guitar playing and penchant for writing a good melody. As much as it would have been good to see them with a band behind, the laid-back vibe of their set was a great closer to another entertaining and varied Gignition performance.