City Calm DownIf the atmosphere in Adelaide on Friday night was an ice bath, Fat Controller was the unstoppable furnace.
The underground venue heated up with both anticipation and a lack of ventilation as croony and broody Melbourne lads City Calm Down continued their epic run of being one of Australia's most significant bands.
Singing her heart out as always was the ever-captivating Airling, exploring the throes of the scattered crowd with her dreamy vocals layered over alternative atmospheric beats. Wasted Pilots made a well-received appearance, as did her collab track with Japanese Wallpaper, Forces.
The room goes black, the DJ stops playing, City Calm Down enter the stage. The energy is hyped right off the bat, Bourke's voice something out of an '80s indie movie soundtrack. The Fatties crowd doesn't disappoint, dancing and chattering away as always. The reverb has been amped up to full blast. The show has started.
Bourke strides around the stage with the grace of a well-poised giraffe; the place is a dreamscape, the experimental, progressive sound of an extremely polished band echoing through the speakers. "How you guys going?" is met with a very enthusiastic "WOOOOO!". The success of their debut album released last year is obvious, as they slow it down for melancholy track Wandering. "I follow you, but only in my mind," as he fistbumps a front-row audience member. The brass section makes an appearance, and it's clear the band is extremely well-prepared for this tour. They've settled into their performance standard, and you can see their innovation and technique polished for the festival circuit they're bound to be booked for this year.
Son is met with gospel-like chorus singing, bringing the mildly uncooperative crowd out of their stupor and extending the enthusiasm far beyond the front row. They do justice to their Like A Version cover of Foals' Spanish Sahara, their epic take on the song inducing chills and goosebumps city-wide.
They're groovy, thrashy, dream-rock, bordering on deep and meaningful crying-in-the-car music. Drummer Lee Armstrong gets roasted on stage for playing too slow, Jack Bourke quotes himself as being stuck in the headlights, Rabbit Run is singalong central. Paying homage to another progressive and experimental great comes in the form of a boogie-worthy cover of David Bowie's Let's Dance. The fallen Starman would be proud.
A band that holds a lot of promise for the future, City Calm Down are ones to keep an eye on. Stay dreamy, guys.
