Live Review: Gold Class, Deep Heat

Steamy conditions inside The Tote ensure even our eyeballs are sweating.

Rough and ready four-piece Deep Heat hover between ramshackle and polished, which is exciting to watch. They decide their setlist on the fly, discussing whether or not it's a good idea to play certain songs and Gus Lord's vocals sound a little like The Clash-era Paul Weller. Irresistibly trashy riffs; we'll eagerly stand by for this band's album.

Their BIGSOUND sets were much talked about all over the country and Gold Class take the stage with quiet confidence. Massive cheers follow the band's opening song. Frontman Adam Curley's intrinsic but measured gestures see him dangling the mic lead above his head like a noose or swaying gradually, hypnotically toward and away from his audience (often with one hand concealed inside a trouser pocket). "This is the first time I don't feel like we have to introduce ourselves," he observes, "but just for the record we're Gold Class." The guitarists often face inward and wafts of smoke billow as if summoned by the sounds. Drummer Mark Hewitt pounds metronomic beats, as precise as the likes of New Order's Stephen Morris. It's You is laced with much hurt. Jon Shub's bass rumbles, vibrating ferociously up through the soles of our feet. 

There's an honest, confessional quality about some of these lyrics, which suits Curley's understated delivery as he stands fixed to the spot now with both hands in pockets. Zero audience banter means our focus is undivided. Life As A Gun sees Curley standing on monitor speakers, hanging out over the front rows while clutching a ceiling beam with one hand. During the next song he jumps down into the crowd; there's a slowly building engagement trajectory throughout Gold Class' set. 

Before playing closer Shingles (Stay A While), the final song on the debut album they're launching this evening, Curley reveals they've never played it live before. As his final sung words, "Stay a while," linger in the atmosphere, all four band members embrace on stage and their delight is obvious. We all feel the importance of this gig. Gold Class matter.