Live Review: Oh Mercy, Millions, Thieves

Local indie-rockers Thieves were first up on a busy Saturday night at The Standard. The cool looking four-piece seemed to struggle with the sound throughout the set and the overbearing lead guitar drowned out the violin, which was a shame as it really added depth to the tracks. Older songs made an appearance alongside new tracks like The Blues and Silver Horse from the band's upcoming EP.

In contrast, Millions were impressively tight and confident on stage, particularly for such a young band. The Brisbane quartet looked as clean cut and fresh as their music sounded as they performed a number of tracks from new EP Nine Lives, Six Degrees. Singer Dom's polished voice cut through the air and if you shut your eyes, could easily be mistaken for Arctic Monkeys' singer Alex Turner.

A theatrical voiceover stopped the crowd's chatter in its tracks and made everyone look around for its source before a single spotlight illuminated the Oh Mercy drummer, Angus Tarnawsky, sitting solo on stage. Then in signature dramatic fashion, singer Alexander Gow skipped onto the stage in a sparkly gold jacket with Deep Heat embroidered on the back, covering a singlet and impressively hairy chest. The showman had arrived.

The rest of the cool looking band, replete with a sunglasses-wearing saxophone player, joined the stage for the title track to their new album, Deep Heat. A number of other tracks from the new album followed including Rebel Beats and Fever as Gow squeaked and cheekily grinned through each one, eagerly rattling his egg shaker.

Things picked up the pace when he grabbed his guitar for some of the more uptempo tracks like Suffocated and the ska-sounding Still Making Me Pay, before Thieves and Millions were welcomed back on stage to dance around and play whatever instruments they could find to Drums. As the song came to its climax, golden ticker tape exploded over the crowd, which was a real show-stopping moment that should have been the last song. However, two more tracks followed with less impact than they perhaps could have had. It was an interesting set choice and a very entertaining gig.