Live Review: The Big Splash - Semi Final

Five semi-finalists fought it out for top spot at The Big Splash held at the Rosemount Hotel on Friday. With a line-up consisting of the winners from heats one to four and a separate Wildcard Winners PUCK, punters were guaranteed a night of musical combat in which only one band would prevail.

Up first was Psychedelic/Shoegaze group Dream Rimmy, whose provision of dreamy lyrics addled with a marvellous beat  allowed the listener to be transported to a plethora of 90s nostalgia. In fact, it was for this reason as to why Dream Rimmy were announced as winners of the Semi-final at the end of the night, they truly were something else.

However, the band did possess one skill that none of the other bands had that night, and that was an amusing bass face.

The night was then taken down a notch with the mellow antics of Eloise Ashton, whose lyrics and acoustic styling brought out a meek sense of naivety and honesty. This was then only amplified by the instrumentation within her music, with a softly toned rhythm and bass guitars from the two Seans of her band that were set behind her, it allowed her music to endow a intimate experience from within the audience. Highlights of her set included the songs Sour Milk and Still on the Line, which both displayed her skills as an honest song writer and mad ukulele player.

Wildcard Winners PUCK lived up to their awarded title with ease. In terms of genre, they were the most hardest of rockers amongst the contestants. With loud distorted guitars and an ecstatic drum beat, they carved their sound into a unstoppable rage, in which the crowd moshed to in pleasure. Belting out tracks such as Tires and Run from the Pack, both songs allowed the group to be considered a tour de force as potential semi-final winners.

Kitchen People, who attained second place with their quick beats and animalistic punk rock, enabled to win the judges over. However, the band did possess one skill that none of the other bands had that night, and that was an amusing bass face. The bassist had the ultimate bass face which he exercised with finesse and expertise, pulling large grins at every alternating yell that came from the lead singer.

The final act of the night came from Indie Rock soloist Husband, AKA Michael Paolino. With a soothing baritone that possessed grittiness, his music equated to a mixture of acoustic folk with the blues. Although Dream Rimmy had taken first prize, each and every musician that night had won in their own right