Live Review: Mercury Sky, Lung, Sentia, Tell Amarosa

Tell Amarosa kick off this fabulous Aussie alt-rock line-up at The Brunswick Hotel with a slow, moody, ambient intro. And that's what this band is about: their music ebbs, swells and flows, rather than pummelling the listener with full-frontal rock assaults, and is punctuated with the sweet, soaring falsetto vocals of Alistair Kidd plus interesting textural guitar lines. The grooves are syncopated, their power is more subtle and Tell Amarosa make an ideal opening act.

Sentia play twisty, turny, slippery alt-rock that is a little more experimental than Tell Amarosa, but every bit as catchy. Again the highly versatile vocals of Amos Phillips are a real feature. However, each member adds their own unique colour to the mix. The drumming in particular is highly active and almost jazzy at times. Their sound is highly varied, although still completely cohesive. Sometimes Sentia's songs have a breezy, almost loungey, '70s smooth-rock feel to them, sometimes they are jazzed-up and sometimes the powerhouse rock comes to the fore. Their use of samples is subtle and imaginative. This band actually put a twist on alternative rock that is all their own and the crowd drinks in every moment.

It speaks of the quality and variation of the Aussie alt-rock scene when bands of a similar ilk play very comfortably on a multi-band bill and yet there is great contrast between them. After the ambience and subtly experimental nature of the opening two bands, Lung come out and slam you straight in the face. Their sound is almost overwhelming and even Liam Burke's powerful voice struggles to be heard above the tsunami of sound to the point where someone in the crowd yells out, "Turn up the vocals!" in between songs. Eventually the sound guy gets the mix right and Burke's passionate, full-throated bellows are made distinct. And that's a good thing, too, for Burke sings a lung up every gig he plays (pun intended). And his comedic between-song banter is as hilariously entertaining as usual.

Lung's grooves are enormous, but again they feature highly active guitar, bass and drum lines within those grooves, adding more interest to the sound. This band is a highly entertaining package and apparently they have some new material on the way.

Headliner Mercury Sky's pounding heavy rock is beautifully offset by the soaring high-end vocals of highly skilled frontman Kay Thatch. In fact the vocals overall are excellent, their harmonies are spot-on and utilised deftly. There are many hardy souls in the crowd who stick around 'til well after midnight for Mercury Sky to complete their set and they are treated to a powerful journey across Karnivool-inspired alt-rock soundscapes; soundscapes that they mix up beautifully with the use of moody ambience and almost dubstep-y samples. They even throw a "love song" into their set, which is indeed highly unusual in this genre's context. This band's tunes and live set are chock-full of interest and character.