Live Review: Asta, Chase City, Peak Body

A couple hundred people jam together inside Republic Bar on a blustery cold night in Hobart.

The opening support act starts with significant fanfare. A small blonde girl in a figure-hugging catsuit and a tall gangly guy in a not-figure-hugging jumper walk onto the stage. 

Peak Body are another member of the shoe-gaze genus, in the same rapidly atrophying vein as Mazzy Star and The xx. The Launceston duo deliver a poor performance, combining a disappointing reliance on pre-programmed drums and loop pedals with virtually no acknowledgement of their audience. They're one arm short of a Def Leppard tribute band. The final track is a collection of 'o's and 'a's sung by frontwoman Emma Marson (catsuit) looped and repeated over each other in a series of complex layers. Loop pedal tricks can be incredibly effective or, without composition, can sound like a stoned dude with a sample pad. This final song runs for a long time and the crowd by the end of the set is noticeably smaller than it was when they began. 

The Chase City boys are raucous and bring a high energy reminiscent of Regurgitator shows. The surf-pop-rock songs are expertly delivered by a talented singer but it's the drummer and keys player that really vault this Little Red-like band into placement on a live music-goers must-watch list. The resulting dynamic created by these two is high energy music with fantastic composition that results in a crowd who would dance the room apart if it were a possibility. The group work well and, with ring-ins Jed Appleton and Tim Bird, Chase City build the onstage energy until it could almost compete with the ferocious shapecutters in the crowd.

When Asta gets on stage, girls get up on shoulders and guys crowd the front cheering as she steps out to the centre. Asta has the awesome dance moves that come from a long time practicing in front of the mirror and it's paid off. It's a top level performance without the fireworks or myriad costumes/back-up dancers that are par for course within this genre.

During the Peak Body set, Asta was seen floating among the crowd watching the band and having photos taken with fans and, from this observation alone, the singer comes off as a pretty genuine person fully conscious of the privilege it is to have her fanbase. 

The singer rose to fame at 18 with her single My Heart Is On Fire, however, since losing her co-writer, her music has taken a more live, less produced quality. However firmly rooted within the pop genre she is, what has always made her stand out is her incredible voice, the sheer volume and confidence of which easily belts out above her live band.

"I want to take a moment to thank everyone in the crowd," Asta announces between songs with an almost childish sincerity. "It's really incredible I can do this, it's really insane and I want to do this for the rest of my life."

It's an attitude like that, combined with a prodigious vocal talent, that has won the singer a wide and growing national fanbase. At the end of an hour-long set the crowd at Republic Bar, one of the longest-running live music venues in her hometown of Hobart, couldn't appreciate her more.