Live Review: Bag Raiders

It's been a while since Sydney duo Bag Raiders have been in Melbourne to play a live set and they tell us they're especially excited about tonight's show since it was the very first of the tour to sell out. They return to play their uplifting live dance music, which is sometimes a bit raw with a few bumps and grinds along the way. Jack Glass and Chris Stracey celebrate their tenth anniversary together this year and their fans are loyal. Looking around the room, many devotees wear well-worn Bag Raiders T-shirts to show their support.

Tonight, Glass and Stracey have a bunch of new songs to play for us from their recently released Checkmate EP plus a few old favourites too. "Who came here to dance?" shouts Stracey, getting the crowd amped up for upbeat, feelgood track Waterfalls. Their energy is infectious as they jump around the stage, tapping away at their sample pads and keyboards with huge smiles on their faces. We can tell they're excited to share their new music with us.

We've all well and truly limbered up by this point and Bag Raiders break it down for a throwback instrumental of the playful Snake Charmer. It's impossible not to become hypnotised by the loose, funky beat — a combined sound of pan flutes and tribal drumming. It's time to get a bit dark and stormy for one of their biggest hits Way Back Home, which has everyone singing along to every word of the supercharged chorus. Footprints is the closest track to Bag Raiders feeling like a rock band and it's a joyous, disco affair doused in a groovy '80s synth with catchy uptempo bass lines.

They reach the part of the show when they usually go off stage and we cheer for an encore, but they don't do that anymore; Bag Raiders would rather save our energy and keep us dancing: Fun Punch. The place is alive and the rush of euphoria hits us as we jump around to the anthem. The momentum continues to build as we share one last dance together for the magical Shooting Stars, which sends the audience into an absolute frenzy.