Live Review: Bad Pony, The Con & The Liar, Landings

Nestled away in a little South Brisbane street sits The Milk Factory, a delicate little boutique kitchen and bar with a serious thirst for live music. Over the years, the venue has seen countless established and up-and-coming acts such as The Ninjas, Emily Wurramara and more recently The Ruminaters, and tonight is no different. 

As soon as the doors are open and the beers begin flowing, local trio Landings are producing some beautiful sounds on stage, sometimes delicate and sometimes intense. Coming off the back of debut single My Bones, which received high rotation on triple j Unearthed, the boys have now recently released Start Again. Their set, not unlike their new single, overflows with emotions and honest lyrics, leaving room to wonder how three men still in the prime of their youth could have experienced so much. 

Following them are The Con & The Liar, an atmospheric blues-rock band who have been blazing a path through the local scene this past year. After the success of singles Sick Seedy and Drummers & Lovers, the six-piece have supported bands such as Good Boy, BUGS, and Born Joy Dead, and have even been added to a few summer festival lineups such as Jungle Love Music & Arts Festival. Their 45-minute set is a whirlwind of high-intensity guitar, elegant keys, mesmerising synth, moody bass and punchy drum beats, with frontman Callum Halstead's vocals reaching out to everyone in the overcrowded room. They've played a lot this year in and around Brisbane, even playing their first shows in Sydney and Melbourne, and you can hear the practice they've put into every song. Watching them play is satisfying, like an elegant dance. They're playing so well, you barely even notice when Thomas Kinsella's synth falls right off its stand mid-song. 

Headling this already spectacular night is Sydney based indie-rock band Bad Pony, here in Brisbane on the fifth stop of their seven-date Bottles tour. If there ever was a hard-working band, it's this one, with previous singles Down To You and Sideways receiving plays on triple j and triple j Unearthed, and a few nice spins on Unearthed for new single Bottles. The set is filled with an almost rhythmic energy, not intense or burning like the previous two acts respectively, but endearing and enduring, filling both body and mind. There's graceful, almost ethereal synth, Foals-like guitar and welcoming vocals, all beautifully wrapped up in a persistently erratic drum beat. One can't help leaving this gig feeling emotionally raw and filled to the brim with bittersweet vibes (definitely in a good way).