Live Review: The Floors, Blackmilk, Red Engine Caves, Blind Tiger Blues Box (DJ)

What better way to spend Valentine's Day than listening to some high-energy rock'n'roll and rhythm and blues? Blind Tiger Blues Box aka Nate Nisbet was on hand throughout the evening to spin blues classics from John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Little Junior Parker as well as MCing between bands. Local trio Red Engine Caves delivered a tight set combining hard rock, blues and psychedelia spread across spacey jams and heavy Sabbath-style riffs. “See, this has got to be some serious Valentine's Day music playing here,” quipped bassist Ralf Sunbird before the band kicked into Settle Down Serious Woman. Sunbird, vocalist/guitarist Ronnie Knights and drummer Mitch Parry were all in top form, bringing plenty of energy to their set, which they ended with a funky, tripped-out version of Only One that got a great response from the crowd.

After the sun had finally gone down, five-piece rock outfit Blackmilk hit the stage, with multi-instrumentalist Todd Pickett hammering out some Richard Wright-style electric piano before the band kicked into first song, Pythia. Pickett moved to harmonica to turn the song from a mid-tempo rocker into a spacey blues jam that left a great first impression on the audience. “Thanks motherfuckers, we're gonna try a new one,” said Pickett before the band played new song, Panther Meadow, which sat nicely alongside material from their debut, In Lak'ech.

After another short DJ set from Blind Tiger Blues Box, The Floors arrived onstage and got the crowd rockin' with the bluesy swagger and high-energy rock'n'roll of You Got To Move. Built From Bones and Junkyard Machine followed, the latter featuring some blistering, fuzzed-out guitar work from vocalist Luke Dux. Dux & Downtown harp player Dave Benck managed to come out to add some serious harmonica work to ramblin' blues boogie number, Bo Creek. Likewise Jozef Grech was on hand to deliver some burning, Stooges-style saxophone over Dead Beat, while Todd Pickett added some percussion alongside drummer Ashley Doodkorte. The set also showed off four new songs, including Brain Dead and Meat Home, sure to go down well once they come out on the next album. After a strong 14-song set, the trio capped things off with an absolutely psychotic rendition of Feed Me To The Pigs, going out with a bang and making this quite possibly the most enjoyable, if not loudest, Valentine's Day ever.