Live Review: Kira Puru, Approachable Members Of Your Local Community, Eleanor Jacks

Eleanor Jacks kicked things off with deep, velvety-smooth vocal vibes. Full of charisma, Jacks had the growing crowd taking advantage of the dancing space before the sold out back room at Oxford Art Factory properly filled up.

The set went by more or less without hiccups, except for a brief loss of power mid set (ironically right after Jacks covered Borns' Electric Love). The young songwriter left us with her new song Boys, a real cracker of track, which she promised we'd be able to check out on triple j Unearthed v soon. Probably one to keep an eye on.

Melbourne-based Approachable Members Of Your Local Community squeezed all seven members of the band onto the tiny stage in matching teal Adidas singlets and sport shorts for their first-ever Sydney gig. Although a bit rough around the edges, the guys were fun and funky, quickly getting the crowd onside. The brass section and heavy bass gave them a ska vibe. The band took the gig as an opportunity to introduce the audience to Velcro, a memorable track from their forthcoming EP out in May. Their penultimate track, an instrumental called Baguette, saw the lead singer take on the drums and a guitarist make his way into the front row to take selfies with the crowd on a disposable camera - the boys definitely made some friends on their first trip up here.

Also worthy of note was the rad performance art piece by Stelly G and Luke Bodley that came to life right before Kira Puru took the stage. Bridging the space between the Oxford Art Factory Gallery Bar and main stage, a glass box floored with sand caged performers draped in red linen and paint, who moved ritualistically around a lumpy, bulbous, lynched white figure hanging in the centre of the space. "Fuk Colonialism Fuk" was the striking manifesto smeared across the centrepiece in blank paint; a powerful protest against white supremacy.

From the moment Kira Puru hit the stage you just knew the headliner/Queen has arrived. "Oomf" is kind of the best word to describe what she brings to a live performance. It's all power; powerful vocals, powerful energy, powerful woman. She first rocked up draped in a giant shawl reminiscent of (and self-described as) a bright red "bathroom loofa situation", which she exited mid-song halfway through the set to discard. It was a night of new music as she "roadtested tracks for the [forthcoming] EP", and a testament that Puru has got a lot of new music to share. Launching single Tension was the crowd favourite of the night, but a few older tracks, most notably the more mellow All Dulled Out, returned and was well-received. All in all the verdict here is that Kira Puru is making some killer new music and if you're not anticipating this new EP, you should be. Oh, and if you can catch her live, you'll probably not regret it.