Live Review: Gang Of Youths, MT WARNING, Tim Fitz

Sydney's Tim Fitz is an absolute marvel. Taking his position in amongst an impressive array of equipment, Fitz wasted no time in producing a simply stunning set of live loops. The set featured minimalistic beats and beefy, wall-shaking bass as well as intricate guitar and keyboard parts, gussied up with an array of weird and wonderful effects. A common pitfall of looping is the tendency for repetition (it's kind of a necessary feature), but Fitz kept things moving admirably. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the set was how effortless this juggling act was – each song led into the next almost instantly and Fitz never seemed to bat an eye: a true must-see.

MT WARNING's songs followed a fairly simple structure for the first half of their set, with the trio's acoustic guitar-driven folk-rock feeling a little bit empty for a while, until some light loop-pedal work kicked in. During a song that began with a solid minute of frontman Mikey Bee's luscious voice on its own, the crowd stood silently disengaged, like they were watching someone sing a national anthem – a real shame, as it was one of the more dramatic songs in the set. But Bee's commanding presence and energy soon wrangled the crowd's attention, and the band's later songs captured a vibrancy and vigour that was happily lapped up.

“We're Gang Of Youths, from Concord,” proclaimed frontman David Leaupepe, a man who has come such a long way from suburban Sydney in the last couple of years. The band was clearly happy to be home and took the chance to show off some impressive new material. A helpful 'shut the fuck up!' from the back of the room silenced the crowd for a gorgeous ballad about Leaupepe driving home from the hospital with his wife – an impressive feat, quieting down the rowdy Newtown venue, but not nearly as impressive as the song's heartbreakingly subtle chord changes and cry-in-public lyrics. In fact, this particular song was so powerful that the next couple suffered – almost as if the crowd couldn't feel happy again for a while. However, they soon stuck the landing with another handful of their trademark epic indie-rock opuses.