Live Review: Curve Ball

There's probably no cooler place to hold a music event in Sydney than Carriageworks. The contemporary multi-arts centre, with its industrial vibe played host to Curve Ball, a dance music live-show curated by Fuzzy Events for Vivid Sydney.

The event boasted a quality line-up, with lots of local talent and a good balance of female-fronted headliners taking to the ballroom main stage. In the much smaller Motorik room, the likes of Francis Xavier, Neon Ivy, Motorik Vibe Council and McLean & Mai delivered DJ sets for those looking to dance.

Flex Mami was first to take to the main stage; the stylish DJ warming up the stage before joining punters around the grounds. After a great performance from Kira Puru, the four elusive artists that make up the collective Haiku Hands, took to the stage with matching outfits and hairstyles. With choreography and streamers, the group was quite the spectacle, performing tracks like Not About You.

There were plenty of bars, security, medical facilities and food options, but those needing bathrooms would have to be willing to wait 40 minutes in line and inevitably miss an entire set.

The giant ballroom began to feel less empty as people filed in to catch singer-songwriter E^ST. Backed up with live drums, the artist delivered fantastic vocals as she opened with The Alley. She got everyone dancing along with her whilst she bounced around the stage and performed a feel-good cover of Post Malone's Congratulations, enriched with lush synths.

Winston Surfshirt and Polographia debuted their collaborative project Poloshirt. Vibing in front of a glistening sunset visual projected across the huge back wall of the room, the group won over the crowd with new, grooving tracks, including their new release Pinned Upon, as well as some Winston Surfshirt music they mixed into the set. 

It was a special night for electronica outfit Crooked Colours. The Perth group announced that exactly one year ago to the day, they released their debut album Vera, before performing the title track, as a captivating visual of their cover art moved behind them. With live instruments enriching their electronic music, everyone got into their performance of Shine On, and sang along to their cover of Baby Bash's Suga Suga that they recently performed on triple j's Like A Version.

The highlight of the event had to be Sydney singer-songwriter Vera Blue (aka Celia Pavey). The lights dimmed as the artist emerged in a sparkling jumpsuit, instantly getting everyone moving with opener Magazine. She won over the crowd, letting them know how amazing they looked, before delivering her absolutely flawless vocals with tracks like Private, Overachiever and Mended from her album Perennial, and Hold from debut EP Fingertips. Accompanied by a drummer, guitarist and keys player, she got everyone dancing and singing along to upbeat crowd-pleaser Regular Touch. Vera Blue dedicated her last song to all the ladies in the room, throwing roses out into the crowd during Lady Powers.

Standing in a raised, visual stage set that looked like a Vivid installation itself, Sydney DJ, producer and singer Alison Wonderland opened with 2015 hit I Want U. Her set was elevated with lasers and crazy lighting. The whole crowd hyped up for her future bass and trap mixes of tracks like Look At Me Now and Kanye West's Yikes. She thanked everyone for being so welcoming, admitting she was nervous to play in front of her hometown, but she delivered and her set was the perfect end to seven hours of quality homegrown music.