Live Review: Ball Park Music, Papa Vs Pretty, Jesse Davidson

With the top floor almost full to the brim with screaming underage punters, the Astor saw a mix of old and young (but mostly young) for last Thursday's Ball Park Music gig.

Up first was awkward Adelaide fledgling Jesse Davidson, who had a sort of dorky charm as he made his way through the ambient indie-rock set. His track Big Bois Gotta Eat had a great hook and was well received by the crowd. He put his own spin on James Blake's The Wilhelm Scream, and his cover of Elvis's Love Me saw a modern indie twist on the old tune, with both going down a treat.

Next up were Sydneysiders Papa Vs Pretty, who refused to start until a satisfactory amount of people had stood and moved closer to the stage. With an emphasis primarily on songs from their latest release, White Deer Park, they played a few of their older tracks that helped their rise to fame, including one of their breakthrough singles, One Of The Animals. Really getting the crowd riled up for recent tunes My Life Is Yours and Smother, everyone was dancing along despite the sound levels being so all over the place, with lead singer Thomas Rawle's lyrics hardly discernable above the music for the majority of the set. Nobody seemed to care much, and ending on the new album's final track, Dementia Praecox, they had the audience screaming for more.

Headlining act Ball Park Music played a killer set, launching straight into a great live rendition of new song Trippin' The Light Fantastic. Playing primarily their most famous singles from all three of their albums gave the crowd a great opportunity to scream the lyrics violently at the top of their lungs with every tune, and newbie Everything Is Shit Except My Friendship With You was no exception: a real testament to the band's following considering the album has only been out a few weeks, yet everyone seemed to know every lyric. Toning it down a notch for slower track Coming Down didn't last very long, being followed by dance-worthy track Sad Rude Future Dude. Ending with back-to-back biggest hits including Surrender, It's Nice To Be Alive and a fantastic live version of Fencesitter really upped the vibe even more, with everyone hoarse from screaming along to every single word. Boldly choosing Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody as their encore, it could have gone terribly considering how difficult this song is to cover. Not for these guys though, they absolutely nailed it – outright proof of this band's ability and versatility. A really enjoyable, light-hearted gig that was a just a bit of fun for everyone.