Live Review: Stonefield, Lurch & Chief, White Summer

The final stop on Stonefield's Love You Deserve tour is a complete corker from the very beginning with Melbourne trio White Summer clearly stoked to be playing their most excellent rhythmic blues-rock to the gathering crowd. Next up are Lurch & Chief. The six-pack of rising stars with the wild and broody tunes begin their round of vocal dueling between waif-like songbird Lili Hall and howling wolf Hayden Somerville. A heartbreaking cover of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game is an unexpectedly gorgeous highlight while crowd favourite We Are The Same gets people singing along to the catchy vocal riff.

Soon after, Stonefield erupt on stage with a feisty confidence not often seen on the sage-like faces of the Findlay sisterhood. Black Water Rising kicks things off with bamboozling strobe lights that send the crowd a bit nuts, while four heads of long hair fly madly about on stage during some initial head-banging. Love You Deserve delivers a soulful life lesson through the lyrics, “You only take the love you think you deserve/Not like me/I know when I deserve more” – a worthy message cloaked in fierce, psychedelic rock.
 
Watching lead guitarist Hannah Findlay playing riffs that would make Jimmy Page proud – eyes closed, face drawn in concentrated rapture, fingers moving magically across the strings – is just divine. She's like a Buddha deep in a Gibsonian temple of rock. Amy Findlay gets right up into some front row faces singing the awesome Put Your Curse On Me while the glee on corkscrew-curled tour drummer Manny Bourakis' face is evident as he beats the drums like a chief. Amy Findlay promptly kicks him off the kit to resume her rightful place as lead vocalist/drummer to deliver a super fun Magic Carpet Ride cover and the heartfelt To The Mountains. Loud, genuine, raucous cheers bring the girls back for their final two encore tracks before heading off to blast the UK with their talent.

Note to tweens: please watch Stonefield instead of chicks writhing naked on wrecking balls. You'll learn a thing or two about true talent and the raw beauty of rock.