Live Review: Boo Seeka, Glades

Duo Boo Seeka and trio Glades played fresh and fast-paced sets last night in Adelaide. These two bands have catchy and danceable rhythms, which are ideal live music for a venue like Fat Controller with its definite club feel.

The supporting act Glades (Karina Wykes, Cameron Robertson and Joseph Wenceslao) added a fourth member to play drums, which really helped to bring the electronic pop beats to a live setting. It was a cool mix of pre-recorded sounds, intricate drum beats, keys/synths and electric guitar. Wykes' vocals soared above the instrumentation with her youthful tone and the performance as a whole was captivating.

The venue is a nice and interesting underground space with lots of different corners, but when it comes to acoustics, the space and sound system had their limitations in showcasing a live band. The sound was very loud and quite muddy directly in front of the speakers. The best spots to stand were probably at each side of the stage or right at the back - but unfortunately the thumping low end still gobbled up a lot of the detail in the music. This scribe was wearing earplugs by the end so possibly having the music a bit softer may have also been beneficial for the overall quality of the sound.

Boo Seeka (Ben Gumbleton and Sam Croft) hit the stage and it was a high energy set. Again, their electronic/hip hop style of music suited the club vibe well, and having a band instead of a DJ is a great way to support live music and emerging musicians. The standout songs were Fool, beginning with a quiet synth and building after that with good dynamics, as well as their final song Deception Bay, which started off very intimately with keys and vocals and ended with everyone singing along during the chorus.