Live Review: Caravana Sun, Little Dash, Swimming Weather

The dancefloor was pumping as gypsy rockers Caravana Sun took to the stage at Sydney's Oxford Art Factory, playing to a full house for their Homecoming Fiesta.

Opening the night were Swimming Weather, who played to a steadily growing crowd. The boys' smooth sound and cool vibes had the audience suitably pumped, with one reveller jumping onto the stage to take a selfie with the band as they played.

Next up were Little Dash, who brought with them a hip-slapping, toe-tapping energy that just made you want to dance. Midway through their set the band threw into the audience (some rather phallic-looking) maracas.  This reviewer was relieved to find that the long, purple, cylindrical object being thrown at her was in fact an eggplant maraca and not what she originally thought. But the stars of the night were definitely Caravana Sun, the bearded boys from Cronulla, who had such an infectious stage presence that it was impossible not to dance around like crazy, shaking my eggplant maraca.

The group played songs off their album, AYA, which have a raw sound to them that translates perfectly to the stage.  The boys let loose in a personality-filled set full of smooth, soulful lyrics and big bouncing gypsy-ska grooves, with Toulouse, AYA and GAIA all massive crowd-pleasers.

You could feel the deep connection the Caravana Sun boys have with their fans; it was almost as if they were playing to a room full of their closest friends, with the crowd happily dancing away and singing along to every lyric.

The boys all rocked, but honourable mention needs to go to Ant Beard, who absolutely killed it on the bass, dancing around like madman throughout their entire set with such energy that you couldn't help but kick up your heels and rock out with him. All in all it was an awesome night at the Oxford Art Factory, with the bands' raw energy and enthusiasm leaving the crowd gagging for more.