Live Review: The Grates, Straight Arrows, Pleasure Symbols

The soundtrack to a section of a John Hughes film is playing when we enter the hangar. You can easily picture the scene — it's that moment where Molly Ringwald has already had a brief dalliance with her beau, but now she's all confused and emotionally disjointed with regards to how she should proceed. Local two-piece Pleasure Symbols are responsible for the moody synth-driven nostalgia, and with only a bass line and some vocal drone to accompany the keys they transport us to a time lined with beauty and pain. They're easy to like, though it's hard to tell if they like us. When it's all over they can't get off the stage quick enough.

Energy levels jack up almost instantly as Straight Arrows deliver the garage goodness from the get-go. Al Grigg's red beanie is launched from his mess of curls before the first song has concluded; Owen Penglis is wearing a 'bad to the boner' shirt. That's where we're at. The pair seem to share a bloodline, connected by glittery red guitars and a chemical bond, while the overall performance is rough and tumble, fun and undeniably tight. During their set, the Sydney four-piece batter us with a series of buzzsaw nuggets — Petrified, Bad Temper, Make Up Your Mind — full of transgressive guitar solos and shared howls. They even throw in a bit of tragic harmonica, for the purists out there.

The love affair between The Grates and their hometown Brisbane is longstanding and unmovable. It's a romance built on raucous, relentless indie pop, and maintained by the enthusiasm of Australia's answer to Karen O — Patience Hodgson. She holds court centre stage like some sort of supernova, rocking a fuzzy canary yellow jacket pinned with all sorts of craft toys and trinkets, while the boys in the band — including her baby poppa John Patterson on keys (playing with a broken arm no less) and long-locked metronome Ritchie Daniell — engulf her energy with bouncy musical bliss.

As a beach ball and inflatable kangaroo are passed around the crowd, the five-piece give us end-to-end favourites, from 19-20-20 and the divine Sweet Dreams to Aw Yeah, Science Is Golden, Call Me and Burn Bridges. Patience remains a vocal powerhouse, while the musicianship is flawless, even with some fresh faces in the 2015 line-up. Patience takes the time to share in silly banter, sing with mega-fans and even throws in a few cheeky high kicks, 'cause why the hell not, right? The riotous Holiday Home eventually wraps up the main set, before a costume change sees Hodgson — version psychedelic Chinese dragon — emerge to shower us in imaginary kisses and finish the night leading us through a loose-limbed Turn Me On.