Live Review: San Cisco, Crooked Colours, Methyl Ethyl

Methyl Ethel kick things off with some ambient indie-rock, starting with a long instrumental piece. Halfway through their set, we start to notice that all their songs sound very similar and, were it not for the long pauses in between, they would all blend into one (until they spice things up a little with an upbeat track towards the end). They stay mostly still and the bassist looks so bored he could cry the majority of the time.

Crooked Colours pick up the mood afterwards though and are greeted with whoops and cheers as they play bass- and synth-heavy tracks. They have everyone’s attention and a punter in the crowd exclaims loudly in between songs, “They’re making me like a genre that I hate!” Crooked Colours make the most of 170 Russell’s club atmosphere and keep the beats flowing. The crowd favourite is their cover of MGMT’s Electric Feel.

We’re all so pumped for San Cisco by the time that Crooked Colours finish that a few of us start cheering-on the sound tech who’s running around stage tuning up their guitars. Needless to say, he looks a little confused and when he exits the stage and San Cisco walk on (five minutes late), we don’t even mind; especially when they launch straight into an old favourite, Golden Revolver. Next up comes Beach, which kicks off the first of many singalongs and starts to sound dangerously like their triple j Like A Version cover of Daft Punk’s Get Lucky towards the end. “This is another older song,” lead singer Jordi Davieson announces. “It’s about stalking people.” And everyone goes nuts as they begin Awkward. Although it’s a clear crowd favourite right from the beginning, drummer/singer Scarlett Stevens’ vocal performance is a little off in this one, but she redeems herself a few tracks later when we arrive at Magic, during which she sounds absolutely stunning. “Has anyone heard our record Gracetown? It’s really good,” Davieson says cheekily before getting into Bitter Winter and Super Slow. “Give it up for yourselves!” Davieson encourages before adding, “This is gonna be our last song, and it’s dedicated to anyone called Isabella!” Run concludes the main set and the band exit the stage. San Cisco then return to the stage a few minutes later to play Skool and Fred Astaire.