Live Review: Isaiah Mitchell, Kellie Lloyd, Blackie, Robert MacManus

Having won over legions of fans in the past few years with his day job in Earthless, Isaiah Mitchell is back in town and this time is heading out for a rare solo jaunt, hitting up the recently revived Transcontinental Hotel with an impressive list of supports in tow.

The room is noticeably sparse which is a bit of a shame, however, the action is on the stage. Opening the night, Robert MacManus – formerly of Grey Daturas and current Heathen Skulls mastermind – warms up the crowd, and his solo sound really strikes a chord with the audience, in some ways baring certain resemblance to his earlier work, while at the same time blending into something completely different: a great way to kick things off.

Following on, Blackie of Australian punk legends Hard-Ons fame is perhaps in some ways the odd one out on the bill, but his solo material strangely fits and hits with the element of the crowd who are obviously keen to get down to some psych.

By the time Kellie Lloyd hits the stage a few issues have arisen. Sound is not great, and halfway through Lloyd's set the attention span of the audience starts to wander back to the bar and the smoking balcony, which is perhaps in part due to the lack of an actual band on tonight's bill. Still, her set in part works by drawing from material both old and new and her voice sounds as good as ever, as she drives the intimate sounds that have cropped up in her work since her Screamfeeder days.

Now for the main event. The crowd has barely grown by the time Isaiah Mitchell takes the stage, but those present are naturally eager to see the San Franciscan murder his axe, which unsurprisingly he does with style. Speculation as to what Mitchell plans on delivering in his solo incarnation was always a universal interest throughout the venue, and the sound is a mixture of wah-driven solo madness with drum machine beats and loops providing the canvas for the guitar mayhem. It isn't too far removed from his work with Earthless, but strange elements such as electronica pop up and they do seem fairly natural. Mitchell is also quite humble throughout and it's clear that this is an avenue that he could pursue in the future.

While musically tonight is most definitely a smorgasbord of seasoned artists doing what they do best, the problem lies with the lack of expansion amongst the line-up which makes things a little slow. This, coupled with the cold and small attendance, is an unfortunate downer on the night that doesn't define it, nor aid it.