Live Review: Northeast Party House, Twinsy, Polish Club, Chiara La Woo

Adelaide was in high spirits on the night of a football grand final and Northeast Party House were also in town for those who dared to kick on at their no-holds-barred gig. Audience reaction was everything on this night where the crowd got increasingly rowdy as the night went on. 

On the Adelaide leg of Northeast Party House's Dare album tour, local band Chiara La Woo started the festivities. Warming up to their chilled out-yet-responsive fanbase (possibly comprising friends and family), the rock and reggae four-piece premiered a handful of new tracks before ripping into a cover of Macy Gray's I Try. The highlights of this set included a shoutout to Chiara La Woo, the band's namesake. While the band started off a little nervous, inbetween song banter about the football helped to ease the tension and carried on through to the end of the set. 

It was a real bloody treat to see two blokes on stage with nothing but a drum kit and a guitar. The minimal set-up by no means compromised the volume of Polish Club's powerful set. Lyrics from the duo's self-titled EP were bought to life by David Novak's powerhouse vocals bellowing throughout the bandroom. Beeping and My House were crowd favourites, judging by the amount of head-banging.

In the time between the band changeover, the venue looked to be at capacity and the Twinsy DJ set managed to hype up the crowd with plenty of R&B and 'nostalgic' '90s bangers.

The chorus of "LET'S ALL GET ON YOUTH ALLOWANCE" chants overpowered the DJ set while welcoming Northeast Party House to the stage. NPH kick off their set with The Haunted and a few of the new tracks, including For You, from their latest record. The mosh was now incredibly messy, with drinks being spilled and gig footwear (white Chuck Taylors and Vans) slowly discolouring and coming off their owners' feet as a result of the unison mosh jump. Lead vocalist Zach Hamilton-Reeves tried to settle the crowd a bit with some footy chats, but only fired up everyone more by disclosing his support for the Port Adelaide Football Club. While Dare's title track was well-received, it was the standout tracks from the band's 2014 Any Given Weekend debut that sent the fans into a frenzy. There was a brief circle pit during Any Given Weekend, crowd-surfing during Fake Friends and at other times throughout the night. The band finished off with Youth Allowance and left the room on a high without an encore.

The bands were excellent and the rowdy audience was mostly well-behaved, but for those shoes and glasses lost/stolen in the mosh? RIP.