Live Review: Northeast Party House, Mosquito Coast

It seems like every young Brisbanite who doesn't have work tomorrow morning is drinking their night away at Brisbane's coolest former church, The Brightside. The cosy Fortitude Valley venue is packed out for a second night in a row for the Calypso Beach tour, with hundreds keen to see out their week dancing and moshing along to the unique dance-infused indie-rock tracks of Melbourne six-piece Northeast Party House.

In charge of warming up the well-lubricated crowd are sun-bleached, guitar-pop duo Mosquito Coast. Even though they're still relatively new to the scene, the chorus of Call My Name and tracks from their debut EP Television Love are supported by plenty of teenage voices. The nonchalant swaying of frontwoman Naomi Robinson is mirrored by most of the mosh pit, seemingly entranced by her glittery guitar and saccharine melodies. An unexpectedly psychedelic instrumental dance track closes their dreamy set, which honestly has rushed by far too quickly.

Calls of "Northy! Northy!" ring out well before the Northeast Party House take to the stage and launch into Heartbreaker, the opening track from their superb 2016 LP Dare. The Brightside quickly turns into a frenzied dance floor, filled with 3D glasses, mullets, tacky Hawaiian shirts and sparkly crop tops. The furious tambourine shaking of frontman Zach Hamilton-Reeves combines with the hectic strobes to make this Sunday indie-rock gig feel more like a Friday night rave.

The brooding, thudding synth-scape of Calypso Beach evokes the night's first singalong, and the rave is replaced by party vibes as giant confetti-filled balloons float down, popping one by one above the crowd. The falsetto and cowbell driven verses of Girl then explode into a hard-hitting overdriven rock tune, sending most of those in the mosh playfully flailing in all directions.

The bouncy as fuck tracks Fake Friends and Sick Boy, from their debut album Any Given Weekend, sees each member of Northeast Party House show off a range of carefree dance moves, while the crowd adoringly scream along and jump in time to the frenetic lighting.

As Hamilton-Reeves introduces Dare, all those in possession of Northeast Party House's limited-edition 3D glasses are instructed to "put them on, and give this next chorus everything you've got!". The frontman's stage presence is commanding, but without the high-tech spectacles, the blue and red lighting comes across as a bit bland — but those with the glasses on seem to be having a hell of a time.

All members but Sean Kenihan leave the stage after Dare, allowing the synth-whiz to craft a throbbing soundscape — which once again transports everyone from a chilly Sunday evening to a late-night, hazy club dancefloor. After Kenihan conjures a thunderous drop, the full band return and kick straight into the straightforward but irresistibly groovy The Haunted. Showing there's more to them than just bangers, a gorgeous three-part harmony in the song's breakdown eventually erupts with Kenihan's signature air horn in a storm of strobes and bouncing bodies.

The crowd's deafening applause after For You clearly humble the band, who return the compliment by closing the show with a rollicking rendition of their breakthrough single Youth Allowance. There's no better way to forget you've got work in seven hours time than screaming "Let's all lose our shit allowance!" while being blinded by strobes, spinning kaleidoscopic orbs and slipping in mounds of confetti.