Live Review: Catbrush, Foam, Doctopus, Black Swan, Hideous Sun Demon, Fabian Rojas, Shit Narnia, Laurel Fixation

Soon after doors swung open, all was quiet as Laurel Fixation found herself at home in the beer garden ready to bash out a few intimate tunes. Her arpeggiated chords accompanied by her sombre sweet melodies and crooning were only a taste of her personality as she showcased her spontaneous and natural comedic nature. Before she could even say thank you, the adrenaline-bearing riffs of Shit Narnia literally dragged the crowd to Mojo's main stage. Frontman Hugh, shirtless and wearing nothing more than stubbies and a tiara, certainly had the crowd settled in a happy place. Yelling with metaphorical and illicit diction, the spoken word-style melodies really evoked emotion.
Fabian Rojas begins after, bursting into a collaboration of riffs which seemed more like a rad jam session rather than a setlist. His ambient tones led into Hideous Sun Demon, who were ready to smash out their set, and by this time some familiar faces had shown up. Vincent, frontman of the band, is a quaint character on stage and seems to be nothing short of crazy. This mixed with a B-52s/Black Sabbath-esque sound made for a great act.
Black Swan brought out a retro '60s amp and a tampered electric acoustic that later burdening him with technical issues, however, the harmonica solos and heavy blues-influenced grunge left onlookers cheerful. Dazed and confused singer of trio Doctopus pulled off a fantastic show, not missing a single lyric despite his drunken state. Their grungy sound had the rabble before them engage in some decent shunting which managed to gather up some enthusiasm from the now sizeable crowd, leaving a promising welcome for the final act of the night.
Catbrush drummer Anetta Nevin startled the gathering of people eager to see the headliners with her insanely effortless intro drum solo. Bassist Ben Rose and guitarist/lead singer Ellen Oosterbaan joined in shortly thereafter; their generous vocal harmonies and fun, grooving style had the crowd swaying, jumping and dancing as Oosterbaan played unique riffs and wailed with her angelic vocal tones and Nevin thrashed through danceable beats defined by high calibre and raw talent. Rose's bass lines were smooth and really brought the pseudo-punk-grunge trio together as a whole.