Live Review: Lord Huron, Carla Geneve

Triple j Unearthed-featured singer-songwriter Carla Geneve is a fine support. The 19-year-old swings her black electric guitar like she means it, with pitch-perfect vocals. Geneve delivers with sparse arrangements segueing into heavier riffs with solid support from her band.

The lights go off and Lord Huron arrive with little fanfare doused in green and blue lights. They open with Ancient Names, Part I from new LP Vide Noir. The drum kit and singer Ben Schneider are spotlit, with subdued lighting fanning the stage, throwing shadows on the band, the focus on the music. Fleshed out by a touring guitarist and keyboardist, Lord Huron wield triple guitars and barely pause, bass player and multi-instrumentalist Miguel Briseno a highlight. Briseno, wearing an Inspector Gadget-style trench, swaggers around the stage on his toes, playing off drummer Mark Barry and Schneider throughout, the moody lighting catching him most. Guitarist Tom Renaud holds his own, playing so frenetically he slips off stage at one point.

"I gotta get away from here," Schneider croons, as the drums kick in for Meet Me In The Woods. Except, Schneider can't get enough of Melbourne. "Last time we didn't see so much, so well done. I'd live here, except it's an awful long way from my parents," he says, to laughs, before She Lit A Fire, Ends Of The Earth and Back From The Edge, drawing the loudest cheer of the night from fans.

Lord Huron fall back down to earth with In The Wind charming the crowd, before dedicating Wait By The River to "all the lonely lovers out there". It's a clear highlight, Schneider reaching towards the sky. Lord Huron’s ability to vary dynamics, together with Schneider’s lyricism, are one reason why fans connect deeply with the band, with many holding hands or making out on cue.

An abstract digital image is projected onto the ceiling during the prelude to Lost In Time And Space, with an audio interlude a point of difference. The band hurl flowers at the audience before dialling things back with the acoustically driven La Belle Fleur Sauvage. A pleasant change of pace with a great riff, it's more alt-country than the space opera stylings of the previous number.

Briseno wields what looks like a mini-UFO during Way Out There, but is more likely a theremin. They may have come down to earth but Lord Huron exist in a world of their own, with world building a key element, not unlike prog-rockers Coheed and Cambria, and fans lap it up. A blistering encore of the cult song The Night We Met ensues. A snare is carried on for Schneider, who throws himself around, encouraged by his band. It's clear who 'Lord Huron' is. The lights come on. When The Night Is Over, played earlier, encapsulates the bittersweet vibe of the crowd... “I have only 'til the night is over”.