Live Review: Beside Lights, 44th Sunset, Bedouin Sea

On paper, it looked a very promising billing for Beside Lights’ debut EP launch. For the most part, it delivered. It’s been a long time since this reviewer’s seen Bedouin Sea perform, and they’ve managed to grow above and beyond expectations in that time. The quintet channel Mumford & Sons wonderfully – each song was meticulously designed, not a single note or beat seemed out of place, and frontman Alex Conradie’s vocal delivery was superb. The newer tracks showed plenty of promise, but the highlight of the evening still came from older hit Drunken Kings (And Shiny Things), which upped the ante after a few slower tracks and closed the set on a warm and fuzzy high.

44th Sunset showed they’re a group still trying to figure themselves out – they’ve been in hibernation up until recently working on new material, but they seem to have lost a bit of spark with the departure of former keyboardist Jess Clancy. While its admirable that frontman Nik Thompson tried to fill in the hole himself by taking on vocal duties, guitar playing, sampling and keyboard playing, it was massively detrimental to the eccentric stage persona that he’s known for. The only track played from their first EP was hit Caesar, but even that seemed to have been sucked of all its life. Their saving grace was definitely the last song – Thompson went full yell-angsty and he sounded excellent – let’s hope they continue to explore that avenue, because they’ve still got heaps of potential.

A small crowd of mostly young girls finally began to form at the front of the stage as Beside Lights took to the stage – their boyish charm certainly working its magic. The group eased their way into the first track from their Half Heart EP, Run Run, and just like the actual record, the pop-rockers nailed it. Their whole performance seemed effortless; such is the mastery of their craft. Second track What Did I Do had the front-rowers swooning over vocalist Adrian Wilson, and he lapped it up, softly acknowledging the room with thank yous and song introductions as the night went on, but always with gratitude showing on his face. The group played through the EP and included a couple of other tracks for good measure, finishing off with Half Heart, and leaving the audience feeling warm and well treated. Beside Lights are clean and faultless, and there should be plenty of success waiting for them on the horizon.