Northeast Party HouseAt Oxford Art Factory on Friday night not even a pair of latex-clad dancers blowing leaves across the floor could diffuse the testosterone that a few hipsters had created, the disappointingly futile scuffle probably caused by nothing more than who had the ‘loudest shirt’.
The hostile energy that a few ‘heroes’ created thankfully quickly shifted into celebration.
Six-piece Northeast Party House rocked their synthesised beats while lead singer Zac Hamilton-Reeves prompted the crowd to jump around like a salmon – his signature move. You And I changed the tune as the yearning and echoed sounds forced the crowd to slow down. Big percussive dru mbeats washed over the lead guitarist, who seemed to have a post-coital glow about him.
It wasn’t too long before the Neanderthal-heavy crowd became themselves again as popular track, Sick Boy, (fittingly) made the audience take a step back: spilled beers and disorganised circle pits filled the floor as an irritating wind-back and the sound of metal grinding finished it off. However, redemption was granted as the band played a fairly apt version of “one of their favourite Aussie bands”, The Vines’ Get Free. Similarly apt was their version of Covered In Chrome by Violent Soho which followed, a perfect choice for them.
The Haunted really showcased the six-piece’s craft and synchronicity. As they played facing one another, you could feel the energy that surrounded them, and it was a moment of taking them seriously. A sold out show was well deserved – but why dancers that looked like black sperm were in our peripheral view remained an unaddressed distraction.
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It would only be fair to end the set with Youth Allowance, an anthem with a message of tween complacency and entitlement. Fist-pumps demonstrated the dwellers’ enthusiasm playing to the parody.
