Live Review: Hugo Race Fatalists, Sacri Cuori, The Spoils

The hush inside this venue would rival a library and when a saw is played during The Spoils' opening set it's perfectly melancholy. A few of the band's extended jam outros don't quite go as planned, with the musicians not entirely gelling, but their music is bewitching with an unconventional selection of instruments that serves them well.

What sounds like a film soundtrack wafts through the speakers and draws our attention back towards the stage. Antonio Gramentieri, Sacri Cuori's lead guitarist, sums this Italian band up well when he recommends we forget what we thought we knew about “romantic Italian music”. He also explains their “luggages” arrived a day late, which meant the quartet had to borrow various instruments for their first-ever show in Australia last night: Thankfully, The Wreckery's Charles Todd (who's present in the audience tonight) was on hand with a baritone sax. The precision playing demonstrated onstage sees wide-eyed glances exchanged throughout the crowd. You'd swear one woodblock rhythm was a sample if you couldn't see the musician responsible. And Francesco Giampaoli's economical bass-playing style defies the powerful, resounding results. A string of artificial red carnations borders the bass drum. And Diego Sapignoli's drumming? Utilising various alternatives to the humble drum stick, he artfully fuses the roles of drummer and percussionist. If The Beach Boys were Italian, playing The Pink Panther Theme, that's Sacri Cuori.

Hugo Race has the kind of presence that draws your eyes towards him wherever he stands in a room. Always impeccably styled, tonight in a three-piece suit with matching tie, you can't imagine he'd own a pair of trainers. Race starts with a solo number. That commanding, effortless baritone caresses while extracting maximum meaning from every word as the audience shuffles closer to the stage. Once joined by Fatalists, it's as if time suspends. This show is an immersive experience. With exactly the same combination of instruments as The Wreckery, Hugo Race Fatalists bring something that would be impossible to replicate, to this impeccable standard, by any other musicians. Too Many Zeroes and Ghostwriter are standouts and considering much of the material performed tonight is unfamiliar, lifted from their latest We Never Had Control release, the congregation are impressively attentive. One enthusiast drops to his knees in worship, remaining there for almost an entire song's duration. And endorsements are yelled from the audience.

Despite warnings that there will be no encore, Race and co return to the stage, after much coaxing, to throw down a couple of covers. Romeo Void's Never Say Never (“I might like you better if we slept together”) is cheeky but never smutty when performed by Fatalists. And Springsteen's I'm On Fire is delivered reverently, making us fall in love with the song all over again. This is one of those shows where musicians need congratulating if sighted on one's way out. Our current crop of artists could learn a lot from these legends.